Abandon Ship
by Semika
Summary: Ickle Harry is all grown up and Dumbledore's failed to noticed. Tired of being manipulated, Harry ditches the light side to begin his own, new side of the war. This is not a soap opera! Sort of Dark!Harry. Slash! Harry/Dean
1. Cogele el gusto

Chapter One

"Reality continues to ruin my life." - Calvin and Hobbes

It was fair to say that on the first of September of Harry's sixth year, he was fairly pissed at Dumbledore. This was not highly unusual since, as of being dragged to Hogwarts on his sixteenth birthday, rarely a day passed when Harry wasn't ranting about something the old man had done. This isn't to say he though Voldemort was a friendly guy who loved bunny rabbits though, he still had his beliefs, he just wasn't pleased with certain aspects of the light side.

Of course it was not like anyone else accepted his anger. Harry Potter could _never_ be angry with Albus Dumbledore, he would _never_ think of doubting the man's great wisdom. He was Albus Dumbledore! Ready to leap from building to building, able to pour cups of tea to thousands of acne suffering teens, capable of reflecting your spells back at you faster than a speeding bludger, able to avoid more than one thousand eight hundred and sixty two questions a minute with the assistance of only a bowl of lemon drops! His one weakness? He cannot build monorails. How could anyone question his genius? Let alone his self made pawn.

Harry had been peacefully enjoying a peaceful birthday afternoon when several Order members had burst into his room at the Dursley's claiming they were here to rescue him. That had been trying. Honestly it wasn't like his family had been mistreating him, forced imprisonment in ones room can be quite a relaxing experience if one only takes the time to view it as such. After the intruders had brushed off his reluctance to go as simple self sacrificing Harryness, they had transported him back to Hogwarts where he was informed he would be spending the remainder of his summer. The four youngest Weasley children were already there with Hermione Granger to keep him company, never mind the fact that Harry protested vehemently to having to share his room with three other boys when summer was his _Harry time_ as he put it, but of course the Boy-Who-Lived couldn't be a socially retarded loner as he had now made a habit of referring to himself as. The twins were there, having been "encouraged" by their mother to come back and finish their schooling. In other words, she cut off dessert (shock horror).

It could have been a worse summer though. As it was he spent it researching his plans in the library with five tagalongs, three of whom wanted him to constantly play quidditch, one who kept trying to take over his research and direct him to places he didn't want to go, and one who actually proved to be quite useful, in an exasperating kind of way.

Ginny Weasley had an annoying habit of understanding exactly what he was trying to do. This was bothersome as at this moment Harry's plans were supposed to have "if I told you I'd have to kill you" status. As it was, she chose not to share them with anyone, but simply flaunted the information in front of Harry by marking out the exact sections of books he wanted before he got to them, thus forcing him to accept her help lest she decide to scream out his plans loud enough to be heard in New Zealand.

And what were Harry's plans you say? Well…

Harry had grown tired of being manipulated. It had lost him his godfather and would probably lose him many others if he allowed it to continue. And so, he planned, and plotted, and schemed, and designed, and so on and so forth. By the time he was "liberated" on his birthday, he had his master plan all figured out.

Stage one; eliminate weaknesses. This consisted of severing his personal connections to those who could be considered manipulators. This had gone fairly well as he soon discovered that most of his associates were actually rather aggravating individuals. He had quickly managed to lose most care for their well being and thus severing the majority of the care they felt in return. This had worked for all except Ginny as she had an annoying habit of predicting his moves but for now she had been rather useful as she was.

Stage two; build a support basis. This can be interpreted as Harry's need for troops. He began this by convincing Dumbledore to allow him to travel to Kings Cross and catch the train along with everyone else to "get a sense of normality" as Harry claimed. The headmaster had agreed but sent all four Weasleys and Granger along with him. He had lost them all fairly easily since they only seemed to follow him nowadays out of habit and boredom anyway. Well, except Ginny who followed him silently without passing judgment or giving opinions, but with a rather knowing smirk on her face that said "Ha ha, I know everything about you and there's nothing you can do about it".

Both of these stages were simple preparation for stages three: infiltration, stage four: separation, and finally stage five: hostile takeover. While it should be fairly obvious what the remaining three stages were, they will not be discussed for fear of ruining the surprise for those too lazy to figure it out.

So as it is, back to Stage 2!

Harry and his faithful and adorable but very much unappreciated sidekick made their way along the corridor down the side of the train. They both knew their destination, one because he'd selected it, the other because she apparently had psychic powers, and thus both held themselves with an air of purpose. And their destination you ask? Why the compartments containing the ickle firsties of course!

Harry had recently realized that no matter how innocent children were, (depending on their house) either Dumbledore would have their sympathies and loyalty, or Voldemort would have their beliefs and dedication, within their first few months or even weeks at Hogwarts. Thus by the time they left Hogwarts they would have been recruited and brainwashed by one of the organizations. It was inescapable. But Harry had a plan. He had many plans, but this was one of his most devious plans.

It was so devious that he occasionally felt the need to pause in his tracks and give a preemptive evil laugh that, had it been heard, would have made the Bloody Baron insane with jealousy. His plan was to do all that Dumbledore and Voldemort planned, from winning trust, all the way on to recruiting; before the ickle firsties even bought their first pumpkin pastry off the serving trolley. Now can you honestly say that is not devious?

And thus it was that Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley stepped into two separate compartments on the Hogwarts Express, containing first year students. Naturally when trying to recruit first years, this was the place to start.

As the door slid shut behind Harry the five eleven year olds turned to face him. Harry in turn took a moment to examine all those before him. There were four boys and a girl, and by the looks of it, he'd gotten future Hufflepuffs. It was amazing how these young people managed to categorize themselves before they even stepped in the front door of Hogwarts. This, he ascertained, was a good thing as Hufflepuffs were very gullible but also loyal thus putting them high up on any recruiters list. It would also be one of the easier groups to address and would probably give him a little more confidence for the others that Ginny wasn't doing. Despite his reluctance to accept the red heads assistance, he knew that she would do a good job on her tasks. This unfortunately however meant he would have to discuss it with her to find out what exactly she had promised those she talked to, which in turn meant actually sitting down and having a serious conversation with the girl. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

"Hi there," He said smiling. When he so chose, Harry could be very charming and eloquent. "I'm Harry Potter. Remembering my first year, I figured you lot could use some reassurances right now. Firstly, you will not be fighting a mountain troll to be sorted into your houses." This comment was met with a chorus of relieved sighs from every first year "As a matter of fact, your sorting will be done by a hat so don't worry too much if you disagree with something it says. It's getting a bit senile anyway. So what are all your names?"

The students all smiled shyly at him, liking this strait forward but amusing young man. They had already met several older students, all of whom had tried to scare them with stories of their own horrific sorting. A young, slightly chubby boy with large dimples and a mop of mousy brown hair answered first.

"I'm Hamish Thomas." He said and Harry could see slight likenesses to his older brother instantly surfacing from amidst the rather plain features.

"Hi Hamish," He replied "Your brother is really cool, though I suppose you don't appreciate being compared to him. Most of the younger siblings I know spend their whole time trying to out do the preset requisites their elders have supplied for them. Don't let that occupy all of your time; it ruins many a good person."

"O-okay, I'll remember that."

"I'm Leonia Blankov." The girl said. She had a thin but friendly face with small blue eyes that took in everything around her without missing a single detail. Harry remembered hearing somewhere that the Blankov's were a Northern European pure blood family with connections to many underground and mercenary organizations. He made a not to himself to talk to this girl in more detail to find out more about her family and gain a decent reputation with them through her correspondence. He nodded politely to the girl before looking to the boy on her left.

"M'names Joseph Tumwater-Crescent. Are you really crazy? My Dad says that's just the ministry's babble." The child was absolutely adorable. He was small for his age with coffee coloured skin, big, saddened, brown eyes and a pouty mouth, all partially hidden by shoulder length strait black hair that gave him a definitely girly look that would make all the senior students want to protect him from the world.

"Hello Mister Tumwater-Crescent. I have to agree with your Dad's opinion. I'm not crazy though I do have some severe issues to work through I'd imagine. May I enquire as to your back ground?" Harry asked having never heard his last name mentioned in any context.

"My parents are both wizards. I was adopted by them through an orphanage in Peru. My birth father was killed in an earthquake and my mother could not afford to raise me. I know they had magical talent but had not trained."

"I'm sorry." Harry murmured sincerely.

"Don't be. I love my fathers and could not be happier with how my life has turned out. So if your not crazy then why do the ministry-"

"I'm Patrick Granger." An impatient boy with no tact finally burst out. He'd been bouncing on his seat since he had heard Harry's name. The older Gryffindor immediately recognized his last name but found it hard to believe this exuberant untamable mass of energy could be related to the prude he had foolishly relied on for grades for the past five years. His coming questions were answered with the lad's next statement. "Your friends with my big sister Hermione and she always used to talk about your adventures but she didn't this year. She always said you didn't think before you did anything but that soon you would do some really huge thing but I don't know what it was. Do you know Mister Harry? She went to see you these holidays so I didn't see her after July but I didn't care. She doesn't like me much anyway. She says I'm uncontrollable and that I'm 'The last bastion of human stupidity in its purest form' but I don't know what that means either. What's a bastion Mister Harry? I like you. You're really nice and I don't like my sister because she's boring but you like her so maybe she's better with you and-"

"And I'll have to cut you off there Patrick. I like you too. Your sister can be very boring and I used to like her but now I think she's a bit too bossy. Do you always talk that fast? Don't answer that." He added as the energetic child drew in a breath to continue "What's your name?" He enquired of a boy sitting in the corner.

The child shook his head and inched back in his seat, curing his legs around him. Harry frowned and started towards the boy but was stopped by Joseph Tumwater-Crescent who shook his head gently.

"That's Andrew Forester." He said quietly and Harry's eyes instantly widened.

This child had had a life as hard as he had. He had originally been a Zabini but had been disowned early last year. The poor child had been taken away from his family by the werewolf Fenrir Grayback. Upon finding out, his family had publicly stated that should he die, he would be mourned and buried in their plot, but should he live through it, he would no longer be listed as a Zabini for they would not be associated with half breeds. The child had lived though this in itself was a miracle for the boy returned having been bitten, as well as suffering from head trauma, internal bleeding, a broken arm, and obvious signs of sexual assault. Grayback was known for having a taste for young boys.

He had not been adopted for most wizarding families would not take a werewolf, werewolves themselves couldn't adopt, and a muggle family was out of the question for they simply were not equipped to deal with lycanthropy. He could not go to an orphanage for he would apparently traumatize other children so upon being healed, he was sent to live in the lower levels to St. Mungos amongst the storage equipment. He was given a cot bed and told to make his way to the kitchens for his meals. When the full moon arrived he would be transported bodily to a secure room and there locked in a tiny cage for its duration for wolfsbane could not be used before puberty.

The shocking thing was that this was regular treatment for young people in cases such as these. Any muggle child would have received intense therapy and counseling and given tender love and affection.

There were rumors of further problems though, some saying that the Zabini's had been ordered by Voldemort to give the boy to the werewolf as a peace offering for his kind. That any parent would agree to this was astounding to Harry.

The Daily Profit had run a small story on the boy offering their sympathies for his dilemma though acknowledging the Zabini's disowning him as a solid course of action. The Quibbler however had been outraged and the lad had been the cover story several times as he struggled to recover.

Harry crouched down in front of the boy and smiled sorrowfully.

"You know," He murmured so quietly only Andrew could hear him "I think your life has been even worse than mine. While people's opinions of me can be fickle, there are always those who let me know they care about me." Andrew raised his head to look at the older teenager cautiously "I'm not going to fear you, or let you fear me." Harry continued "I would like you to be able to trust me and come to me if you have any issues. I have a friend who is a werewolf. Well, he's kind of like my godfather now since my original one died. If you like, I could arrange it so that you can talk to him. Would you like that?" Here the fearful child nodded a glimmer of hope lighting in his eyes.

Harry stood up and looked at the five young faces in front of him. War had touched on too many he decided. However, he could not let that deter him here or else Dumbledore would draw these young ones in anyway. And _that_ was unacceptable.

"Now then, short people!" He cried, stealing some of Patrick Granger's exuberance "It is now necessary for you to know my plan. It is as follows. Albus Dumbledore, while being a very powerful wizard, is also the Queen of Manipulators. This is bad bad if you are a Hogwarts student. Thus, I plan on staging an ultimate rebellion. Now, as our one and only Queen will doubtlessly try to approach you, I decided to do so first and give you my honest opinion of what he is like. As it is, I would love for you all to join me in my plan as junior agents. Basically meaning, you do the fun stuff, but without the danger. Any questions?" He finished with a slightly goofy grin.

"You rock!" Yelled Patrick who apparently had already made his decision. The others, while trusting, did have a few questions.

"Um, just wondering what if my brother decides to side with Dumbledore? Will you make me go against him, or can I stay away from him and his friends if that happens?" Hamish asked first, his family loyalty showing through.

"I think your brother will remain fairly neutral or pick his battles on a case by case basis but if he does side with the Queen, I'll keep you away from those operations."

"My Dad is a reporter, if this goes large scale, what are your policies on freedom of press." Joseph spoke up obviously quoting something he'd heard his parents say.

"I believe in _honest_ freedom of speech. I'd love to meet your parents some time by the way." Harry replied, as yet another crafty scheme formed in his mind. As has been previously mentioned, there were a lot of them.

Harry and his three new followers all turned to look at the other two students. Andrew shrunk back in the corner so they focused on Leonia who simply shrugged.

"My family respects power. You have power and while I'm still in school, my decisions don't mean enough for them to interfere with them so for now, I'll follow you completely."

"If you meant what you said about your friend, I'll stick with you." Andrew spoke up quietly.

Harry grinned at them all. _This_ was why he loved Hufflepuffs; it was so damn easy to gain their trust just so long as you kept your promises. Now, for the minor details.

"Alrighty then shorties," Harry launched into his spiel once more "Once you have been sorted, I would like you to just appear to accept what Dumbledore tells you, along with what your head of house say's. Then you relay any important information to me. From there I will assign you a portion of the castle to explore in detail because no one is going to think anything of several first years traipsing about taking in details. As it is, I will provide you with directions and a vague map so you needn't spend as much time wandering about on your own. Also, if you ever have any issues with assignments or other students or anything like that, just approach me or Ginny Weasley. There will probably be other senior students whom you can talk to about it as well, but remember that we are always an option for you, especially if you feel that one of these problems may be linked to something our darling headmaster is working on. On that topic, do not tell _anyone_ about what I am planning here, even other first years unless I have personally told you they are safe and you are certain you are not being overheard. Okallydokally fellas! I'll see you within your first few days to give you those maps. Come find me if you need to see me sooner. Bye then."

The future puffers all waved goodbye as Harry made a rather flamboyant exit with several flourishes and extravagant bows. As he left he ran into his favorite red haired annoyance who smirked at him as she watched his antics.

"You got Hufflepuffs" She stated

"NO. You could tell? Wow you must be the most observant person alive." Harry said sarcastically.

"Be nice darling." Ginny placated, "I got a mix that included one second year so I had to be cautious. As it was, I think that they were mostly Ravenclaws with one or two Slytherins thrown in so they all got the subtle ideas I was giving them without having any proof to go to Dumbledore with. I think the confirmed Slytherin is going to keep what you said in mind, though she may go in any direction, the one I'm not sure about seems to think you sound amusing and will probably help you out. The Ravenclaws know I was being honest and are in agreement about your opinions on manipulators so they'll be with you. The second year was a Slytherin but I'm guessing they are not from a prominent family because I don't think Voldemort has her yet. She will probably approach me in the next few weeks or even days to discuss options and may bring some second, third and even fourth year students along with her. Eleanor Greengrass I think her name was."

"Yes, I know of her family, her elder sister Daphne is a senior student I believe if memory serves. Either way, the family chose to allow a Muggle in a while back when they got worried about inbreeding so I'm guessing they are not as strongly connected with Voldemort as some others." Harry said "Now, since you are proving to be slightly useful, would you like to do some of the other compartments?"

"Certainly, I was slightly quicker then you (I'm assuming you were gaining a _complete_ allegiance) so I've had a glance at each compartment. The one to your left has seven girls in it who I think are going to be Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, the one next to that has all the future Slytherins apart from the one or two I mentioned earlier. These ones are the complete purebloods though so we may have a hard time with them. The compartment to my right has only three occupants and I'm thinking they'll be main force of the Gryffindor boys so probably they'll end up with Dumbledore for certain, and lastly, the compartment in the corner has a mix of students, none of whom I could rightly identify at first glance, although going on the subject of their discussion, I'm going to guess there will be at least one Ravenclaw." Ginny informed Harry

"Okay, we'll leave the Slytherins for now as I'd imagine their parents and older siblings haven't given them much reason to trust me. You can do the girls group as I'd imagine you'll be able to relate a tad easier. I'll just say hello to the Gryffindor boys and offer myself as a support network just in case, and then I'll go to the mixed group and drop a few hints they'll all remember when they hear either a Dumbledore or Voldemort message and hopefully will come talk to me at that stage."

The devious duo both departed to visit those particular compartments. After they'd finished they reconvened in an empty compartment to exchange notes. Ginny was fairly certain they had the Hufflepuff and possibly the Gryffindor girls and Harry felt the three boys would come to him if they were worried about anything simply because he was easier to access then Dumbledore. This would hopefully cause them to have some doubts about Dumbledore when Harry showed the world his ultimate plan and make it a bit harder for the man to gain young support.

The mixed compartment, while they did not seem to have any house prejudices as of yet, looked as though they would be ready to gain them at a drop of a hat. The smarter ones though would probably remember Harry's cryptic message when they heard some of their older students talk about the war or Dumbledore. As far as Harry was concerned though, he had the definite support of the Hufflepuffs and he felt that was a fairly good start.

"By the way, did Hermione ever mention to you that she had a younger brother?" Harry asked Ginny who looked startled.

"No she didn't. You'd think it would come up in conversation but it never has. I wonder why?"

"Probably because he's a Hufflepuff in its purest form and she was hoping he wouldn't have magic."

"Riiiight. What are you doing about my brothers by the way?"

"What, you mean there is a portion of my plan you _haven't_ already figured out? Hallelujah! Praise be to Merlin! And all that jazz." Ginny gave Harry her patented drop dead look so he decided to share this portion of his ideas. "Ron's out since he only befriended me to beat the rest of your red headed village," Yes it was impossible for him to not put a dig in every now and then "Bill and Charlie are out as they are order members and you have to be fairly brainwashed to be allowed in Dumbledore's personal cult, Percy is a Fudgesicle so he's out as well, but the twins are pretty much open since Dumbledore's not all that fond of them and I don't see the ministry or Voldemort wanting two pranksters on board their teams. We'll let them stay light/neutral for now and make use of their resources when it's appropriate. Your parents don't have enough skills or resources in the areas I'm interested in for me to bother for now so we'll leave them be until they become a nuisance."

"Charming." Ginny muttered

"No one is forcing you to hang out with me. If I wish to plan for your parent's eventual expiration I'll do just that." Harry said petulantly.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"... This is rather stupid Harry."

- - - - - - -

What do you think? Should I continue or should I drop it and just work on Replay? Just so you know, while there is no pairing at the moment, I'd just like to confirm that it will _never_ be HarryGinny. I will be posting the next chapter of Replay within the next 36 hours.


	2. El Pito

**Authors Note**: Four reviews is a pretty good number for me, considering how hard it is to get people to review my other story. I will be rotating my updates between both this story and Replay (on that note; sorry about the cliff-hanger, it's there because I hadn't decided who it was).

I need some outside opinions on the following matters:

If the four options are Light (Dumbledore), Dark (Voldemort), Ministry (Fudge), and Harry, who should the following individuals side with?

Draco

Luna

Severus

Fred

George

and Prof. Stynehope (read this chapter for information on her)

The above people are the only ones I am having trouble deciding over at this stage and I figured I could ask you guys for your opinions because "My reviewers' opinions matter to me".

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling

This chapter is dedicated to all those who reviewed and/or added this story to favourites, especially Vellouette because Vellouette has reviewed both my stories (and one of the reviews is _really long_). Ah, about the review from Randl Scot, I did not realise I had listed this story as specifically HarryGinny, but I have now specified NO PAIRING just to be sure. By the way, if one does not mention Ginny in their summary, how may people be of the mistaken opinion that she is going to have Harry's love babies?

**Chapter 2**

"Hufflepuff!"

"Damnit Harry!" Seamus said amidst the cheers as Hamish ran towards his new house mates "I've known the kid for a few years and you've known him for at most, eight hours, and you still manage to pick his house better then I did."

"Oh stop complaining and pay up Seamus. You should have known better then to gamble with me anyway."

"Shut up Harry, I'm trying to rant."

"_Silencio_."

"Thanks Ginny."

The Gryffindors all turned their attention back to the main platform as a girl named Scarlet Trim was sorted into Slytherin. Following the girl came Joseph.

"Hufflepuff." Harry said, and this time, unlike the five previous times he'd stated a house name, no one suggested differently.

So far, Harry had guessed correctly for Leonia in Hufflepuff, twins Jack and Troy Castor (both muggleborn) for Ravenclaw, a girl called Rhiannon Jones for Gryffindor, and of course Hamish and now Joseph.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat called again.

"No shit Sherlock." Dean muttered, drawing a smirk from Harry.

Joseph ran to join the other first years, sitting down next to a girl Georgina Clapmatch whom Harry remembered seeing sitting with the Gryffindors Ginny spoke to on the train.

As the sorting continued, the other Gryffindors watched Harry to see if he would give any more guesses. He did so only two more times with Bradley Vermeil into Slytherin, and Alicia Wilforth into Ravenclaw. Alicia had been the girl Ginny was unsure about with the Ravenclaws but Harry clearly had no doubts.

As the sorting ended, Dumbledore rose to give his obligatory sentence before Ronald Weasley could die of starvation.

"I have only two words to say to you," He said in what Harry was guessing was meant to be a mysterious but kindly voice that actually made him sound painfully constipated "Tuck in."

"Didn't he say the exact same thing to us in fourth year?" Harry questioned of Neville Longbottom who simply shrugged.

"No idea, I can't remember that far back." The boy replied before digging in to his meal.

"I think that's the general idea." Ginny murmured to Harry who gave her a 'No duh' look in return.

Harry's First Years (and is that not the greatest club an eleven year old could possibly belong to) all knew better then to approach him now, so Harry allowed himself to focus simply on the joys of eating, only half listening to the conversation around him which mostly spoke of which Quidditch team was most likely to win in the Nationals in the coming season. Unfortunately, when you're the boy-who-lived-to-be-locked-away-in-a-school-for-your-entire-vacation, people often have a lot of catch up questions they want to ask you, particularly if you've just been listed as the captain of the house team for their favourite sport. That happens to be just another of Dumbledore's ploys, for those of you who are keeping track of these things.

"Say Harry, when are you going to hold tryouts? You'll need new chasers now that two of the girls have graduated." Seamus questioned, having finally convinced some foolish sod to remove the silencing charm from him.

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably be doing tryouts for all positions. I'm not going to become over confident in our team players' abilities when other houses could find some brilliant talent in the younger year groups. Remember, several of the Hufflepuff and Slytherin team members are gone now, as is one of the Ravenclaw beaters."

"Your not serious are you Harry; I'm already in the team." Ron said from a little further down the table, causing Hermione to frown angrily as she realised the red head had been ignoring her for the better part of ten minutes in favor of eavesdropping on the Quidditch conversation.

Harry rolled his eyes at Ginny who grinned.

"I know Ron, and you can be a very good keeper as you proved in last years final match," Harry replied in a patronising voice "But you are the one who kept drilling strategy and ruthlessness into me this summer and now I'm using them. If you are the best, then you will keep your position. If not, then it will go to whoever is better."

"Oh- I guess that makes sense. Sorry Harry." Ron said sheepishly

"No problem Ron."

"Hey Hermione, was that Granger kid who went to Hufflepuff related to you at all?" Lavender questioned

Harry held back a smirk as Hermione winced. Patrick's entrance to the Great Hall had been rather unusual. He had not entered with the main group but ran on stage sopping wet just as Professor McGonagall started to call out the name of Richard Adeline (Gryffindor). To go from the conversation he then started up with the child next to him, much to McGonagall's annoyance, he had somehow, like Dennis Creevey managed to pitch himself into the lake. He had then struck up a conversation with Peeves while he was waiting to enter the Great Hall which had distracted him so as to cause his belated appearance upon the platform.

"Ah, yes. He's my younger brother actually though I have not seen much of him in the past few years." Hermione cringed in anticipation of the chorus that came immediately after this announcement.

"I didn't know you had a brother!"

Harry grinned as Hermione was lost under a mass of questions. He was thus left free to talk to Ginny who was examining the papers that Professor McGonagall had just dropped off with her. During their half-arsed vacation, Professor Dumbledore had informed Ginny that she was now a prefect for Gryffindor. This position left a lot to be desired but did give some advantages along with its rights and responsibilities. The first and most obvious was an excuse to be out after curfew. The second was the fact that it gave Ginny a decent excuse to converse with the students in the lower years on a regular basis. There were some down sides that included having to patrol, reporting regularly to Dumbledore without much opportunity to pick up information in return, and being looked upon as almost a separate category from the other students which made it hard to relate. One of the best things about Ginny's new role, in Harry's opinion at least, was that it provided her with a basic castle map so as to show her where she would patrol. And, as luck would have it, it included the kitchens.

"Er, say Gin-" Harry began

"Here," She said, tossing him the map while she opened the envelope containing two months worth of passwords to the Gryffindor common room, the storage cupboards there, Professor McGonagall's office, and the prefects' bathroom. "And you may wish to look at these as well when you get the chance. The Fat Lady appears to have appreciated your suggestion."

During their time away, Harry had become fed up with Hermione's interferences in his master planning. He had thus decided to provide her with several days' worth of entertainment. On one of their few trips to Hogsmeade he had visited a pet supply store and purchased a small bag of catnip. He had placed it under the cover on Crookshanks' mat. The savage creature had not slept for a week until Hermione had finally found the well intended gift. Luckily for Harry, the twins had been instantly blamed for the prank despite their attempts to deny it. The Fat Lady however had been visiting a friend's portrait in the room the two girls had been sharing when Harry had deposited his surprise. After watching the portrait go into bouts of hysterics every time she saw Hermione or Crookshanks during the eventful week, Harry had suggested a few choice passwords to her for the new term. He was pleased to hear that some would be incorporated this autumn.

"I swear you read minds girly." Harry muttered as he unfolded the map and quickly made several copies before passing it back to her.

He quickly scanned the first copy and spotted out the Hufflepuff entrance and the kitchens. Pulling out a biro (he had discovered their usefulness before he'd been 'righteously' kidnapped and now preferred them over quills simply because they were easier) and traced the quickest route between the two, taking care to note out where Filch and other key individuals patrols usually ran. Noting a conspicuously empty patch on the map near where the route he was mapping lay, he circled it and wrote 'sketch' next to it. He wrote instructions to the painting of fruit next to where it would be and then drew quick routes between Hufflepuff, the Great Hall, and the main classrooms. He then rolled the map up and secured it with a rubber band (another device he had taken to carrying around) and tucked it between his knees before folding the rest to put in his inner robe pocket. Finishing this just in time, he straiten up to look over to where Dumbledore had now risen from his seat to stand like an overlarge goose wearing a green robe decorated with purple frogs. Well, that would make sense if geese had beards but as it is… well… do I have to finish this sentence?

"And so begins another year." The aging headmaster began as Harry rolled his eyes. This man appeared to believe he was living inside a poor copy of an Enid Blyton boarding school series. "I must first begin by informing you all that most products sold by the stand alone line Weasley's Wizard Wheezes may not be brought inside the castle lest they be confiscated by our caretaker Mister Filch, neither may you purchase or sell said items on student time."

"Try and stop us." The twins both commented a little too loudly.

"And, once again," Dumbledore continued, his eyes twinkling "I must remind you that the forbidden forest is strictly out of bounds. Lastly, we have a new Defence against the Dark Arts professor, this year, it is Professor Sylvia Stynehope. I hope you will all make her welcome and show her your best sides in class, although maybe I ask too much."

Many of the older students laughed knowingly at this comment and the youngsters chuckled in bemusement.

"I believe that is all, please remember that tomorrow is a Monday and as such classes will run as normal, prefects please escort our new students to their dormitories tonight, and bring them back to us by breakfast tomorrow, preferably unharmed."

Again he managed to get some laughs; it was obvious these deprived beings had never watched a decent teen flick although, mind you, not many had these days.

"And now we must all sleep so away to bed all of you!" Dumbledore clapped his hands like an excited toddler. It was a wonder he wasn't bouncing on the spot, though, Harry supposed, it was hard to do so when you were several hundred years old. Or you looked it at least.

"See you later." Harry whispered to Ginny and ducked amongst the crowd.

He quickly got to the Hufflepuff first years before their prefects could find them.

"I've drawn out the easiest routes between your common room, here, and your classes. I also figured it would be fairly important to a group of eleven year olds to know where the kitchens are. I've also shown an area I'd like you to look at. Try not to show anyone this because it's an ex-prefect map and will get people in trouble if any teacher stops to think about it."

"Thanks Harry, it's really cool and so are you and everything. We could use it tonight or something because my sister said something about house elves and I'd-"

"Okay then, I'll see you later short people." Harry interrupted quickly before the kid could wind up too much.

Running back to his group, Harry headed up to the tower. Once in his dorm, he stripped off and threw on a pair of track bottoms and climbed into bed although not before warding it of course. He was asleep in moments, not even hearing when Ron returned from showing the first years in and tried to approach Harry's bed, resulting only in getting himself thrown across the room as he hit the constructed barrier.

A pity Harry had missed that really.

- - - - - - - - - -

"But of course we have to go. We just got this thing and we need to familiarise ourselves with it before any teachers think it is necessary to start patrolling."

It was about one in the morning and Joseph, Hamish, Patrick and even Andrew were all standing at the entrance to the girls' dormitories in Hufflepuff trying to convince Leonia and Georgina it was a good idea to follow the map to the kitchen right now. It was turning out to be a lot harder then they expected as the two girls did not appreciate the greatness of pie anywhere near as much as the boys did.

"Can't we just do this another time? It seems a bit foolish to attempt it now. We know nothing about the castle and we could be caught. I don't think Harry will be pleased if we lose him his map to a teacher this early." Leonia said doubtfully.

"Well, look, how about just some of us go and bring back pie for the others since we are less likely to be caught that way. But we do need a girl to come, simply because going on the experiments we did on the train, you two have better ears then us." Joseph explained but the girls still looked wary.

"Let me try." Hamish murmured. He cleared his throat and spoke six, very meaningful words "There will be… lots of chocolate."

"…"

-

"_We are the great purveyors of pie!_

_We bring so much, it falls from the sky!_

_We'll never stop 'til the day we die!_

_We are, we are, purveyors of PIE!"_

"For the love of Merlin, make him shut up!"

"Don't you think I'm trying?"

Joseph, Leonia and Patrick were cautiously making their way towards the kitchens. Well, Joseph and Leonia were. Patrick was skipping in large circles around them, gesturing wildly, without any care for what he might disturb.

"I swear I will have him killed if you don't fix this Joseph." Leonia said her pale face murderous in the dim light "Why do we have him with us again?"

"Because it was either that or leave him singing in the middle of Hufflepuff to wake everyone up. I don't know any spells to keep him quiet."

"I cannot believe this. Harry is going to kill us when we get caught because of this fiasco."

"_We run so fast to bring the pie_

_We jump we skip we even fly_

_We come in the rain, or when it's dry_

_We are, we are, purveyors of PIE!"_

"Not if the scary Filch man kills us first." Joseph said, trying to concentrate on the map over the racket.

It was truly amazing that they hadn't been discovered yet. Or it would have been amazing if it weren't for their unacknowledged assistance. Peeves, having heard the caterwauls of his new friend, decided to help him out, and began singing one of his 'Potty Potter' songs and tipping suits of armour over on their fronts near the hospital wing providing them with a cover that allowed for the young Granger's singing.

"Ah, here we are." Joseph said stopping in front of a painting.

"About bloody time." Leonia cursed. This was rare for her, and only something she did when she was really stressed "Why did you need me to listen out for you anyway? No one could have heard anyone approaching over his singing."

Joseph tickled the pear and the painting swung open. The three entered slowly and amazingly, the sight of the house elves still cleaning up shocked Patrick into silence.

A rather unusual one with a tea cosy on its head paused before them.

"Is you being in need of something?"

Patrick took a breath.

"_We are the great purveyors of MMMPH!"_

Joseph quickly gagged the boy with his hand.

"We were wondering if you had any leftover pie and chocolate that we could have." Leonia said sweetly.

"You is students! You is not needing pie and chocolate now. Sleep is what you is needing." Here the house elf began to herd them back out.

"ARGH gross!" Joseph yelled snatching his hand away from Patrick's mouth "He licked me!"

"Mister Funny Thing sir, please can we have some pie? Harry Potter gave us this-"

"Harry Potter? You is friends with the great Harry Potter?" The students nodded cautiously "I is liking Mister Harry sir; he is giving Dobby his freedom so now Dobby is paid for his working!"

"Ah okay… we'll just be leaving now then, sorry to disturb you." Joseph said backing slowly away from the excitable creature lest it call for a group hug.

"No, no, no. Dobby is getting you pie and chocolate. You is waiting here." The elf ran about the place for all of two minutes and came back with a mountain of pie and chocolate. Both boys began to drool. Leonia simply thanked the elf and began sorting the pile out so the three could carry it all.

"Well that worked kind of well in the end." Joseph said brightly

"Ah, you're kidding right Joseph? It was a disaster! We're just lucky no teachers are out and Harry Potter seems to have some devoted followers."

"Ah I guess you're right."

"Thank you _so_ much for acknowledging that."

There was silence for a moment before;

"_We are the great conveyors of pie-"_

"Oh Merlin, not again!"

"_We bring so much it falls from the sky-"_

"Oh let him have his fun."

"_We'll never stop 'til the day we die!_

"Come one Leonia, smile a little."

"_We are, we are, the purveyors of PIE!"_

"Oh what the hey."

The three began skipping side by side back to the common room; arms filled with their glorious trophies of the nights fortunes. A rowdy chorus sounded throughout the corridor;

"_We run so fast to bring the pie_

_We jump we skip we even fly_

_We come in the rain, or when it's dry_

_We are, we are, the purveyors of PIE!"_

- - - - - - -

End note: Whoot! Over 3000 word in this chapter! Not as many as my last one, but better then my average. So what did you all think? I apologise in advance if you spot any mistakes but this chapter was written very late at night after I had awoken at six and been working all day. I did read it over this morning once I was fully awake to try and spot anything out and I think I got them all as my spelling and grammar are not usually too tragic. Let me know if you see any and I'll edit them out before I put up the next chapter.

Replay will be updated as soon as I decide where I'm going with the cliff-hanger.


	3. Sonea Mi Son

**Authors Note**: Alrighty then. Thanks to my reviewers Vellouette (again YAY), SamZelRavSmash, and Lady Melime Alasse. You guys rock my world. I'm still taking opinions about what to do with Draco, Prof. Snape, Luna, Fred and George, and Prof. Stynehope (although I don't expect immediate decisions on the last one, though her character will be molded depending on whom she supports). In relation to a question I received about Harry's attitude change, keep an eye out at the end of chapter four or the beginning of five about why he came to these conclusions. Ummmmm, I think that's all… your reviews keep me off the street people, so keep 'em coming!

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling. She dresses him in leather and shows him off at parties.

**Chapter 3**

"Good Morning fellow Gryffindorks!" Harry called out as he plonked himself down on one of the benches and then proceeded to ignore them for the rest of the meal.

Well, technically he wasn't ignoring them because he was still keeping track of their conversations, he just didn't respond to any comments directed at him. He did grin though when six first year Hufflepuffs all walked in three minutes before it was time to leave rubbing their eyes and claiming they couldn't eat a bite. Most put it down to them being nervous as it _was_ their first day. They were Hufflepuffs after all and they did have a certain reputation. Harry knew better. This was yet another reason why he loved Hufflepuffs. The smile vanished from his face moments later when he noticed Ron and Hermione making their way towards him.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." He muttered as Ginny snorted "Are that pair masochists or something? You'd think after several pranks and being thrown down the stairs, they'd give up but _noooo_ Ron and Hermione, take a hint? _Never_."

"Actually Harry, going on the look on our esteemed headmaster's face, I'd say that they don't really have many other options but to try and regain your friendship. Do remember that Hermione is muggleborn and my family doesn't exactly roll in money. Not to mention, all those they truly respect are Order members."

"Ginny?"

"Yes Harry"

"Please don't correct me when I am ranting."

"I'm just trying to keep you humble Harry."

"Gee thanks."

"Harry!" Hermione cried as she approached.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, matching her volume "What on earth are you doing here? What an amazing co-incidence to see you at Hogwarts at the same time as I am visiting."

Now Hermione was a relatively intelligent individual so it did not take her long to realize his sarcasm and as a result seemed slightly sheepish about her behavior. Ron however was another matter.

"Why would you be surprised by that Harry? We're always here when you are." He said, puzzled, drawing a groan out of his younger sister.

Noticing her, Ron came up with one of his 'theories' and naturally felt the need to share it with everyone around him.

"I know why you haven't been spending time with us Harry; you are dating Ginny aren't you!"

Both Harry and Ginny turned to gape at the triumphantly grinning red headed boy. Was there no end to his stupidity? But apparently it wasn't actually stupidity as Hermione seemed to think this was a valid idea. Maybe they _had_ been spending a tad too much time in their secret planning sessions. Holding them in Harry's bedroom with the door locked during vacation probably wasn't the wisest course of action either.

"Are you two really?" Hermione said looking delighted "Wow, you two could be a great couple."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other for a moment as they realized the potentials of this.

"We are." Harry confirmed and Hermione beamed while Ron seemed smug for being right but also cautious. Ginny was his baby sister after all. "We've been dating since during vacation. You may have noticed we kept sneaking off to spend time together. Don't look at me like that Ron we weren't having sex. Geez."

"It's really sweet you two."

"But the thing is," Ginny interrupted Hermione before the sugary gooiness could pour out of her and pool on the floor "We don't want anyone to know. We're telling you because we trust you both and you mean a lot to us. So _please_ don't tell anyone just yet, even Dumbledore."

"Alright we won't." Hermione promised as Ron nodded his agreement "We'll leave you two your breakfast together." She smirked at them "Have fuuuuun."

Harry and Ginny low-fived under the table as the pair left.

"Good thinking Ginny. Now if Dumbles drops any hints about a connection between us, we'll know who at least two of his _confirmed_ spies are."

"Why Harry, did you just compliment me on my choice of actions? Oh happy day! I must write Mama."

"Oh piss of you annoying monster. What was with the 'we trust you both' I've been trying to disprove that since the start of vacation." Harry said with a glare.

"Now _that_ is the response I was expecting." Ginny said with a grin.

"Ah… why are you still here? Don't you have class or something?"

"It's only a quarter past eight. I don't need to leave for another ten minutes and I'll still get there."

"Well I have to leave now. My timetable says I have Care of Magical Creatures first thing. I'll need a bit more than five minutes to get out to Hagrid's hut."

"Alright Harry, have fun." Ginny replied waving, albeit a little distracted (she'd just spotted a stack of pancakes with maple syrup).

Harry made his way out of the castle and down the lawns. He had decided to continue taking COMC because despite the slightly questionable teaching skills of its professor, it was a useful topic when one plans on fighting a war as a leading figure. Not to mention, while he was incessantly loyal to Dumbledore, Hagrid was a fun guy. One who often let his tongue slip about important matters. What more could a kid ask for in a person?

"Hey there Hagrid!" Harry called out, raising his arm in greeting to the half giant.

Hagrid waved back and bellowed out a greeting with an accent no author despite the original can truly emulate. He appeared to be busy handling something in a large case in front of the hut. Harry found his way over to a tree and stood half hidden in the shadows to watch other students arriving. First came the one remaining Ravenclaw, Terry Boot who Harry was fairly certain wanted to join the Department for Control of Magical Creatures which would explain his presence here as this course was a requirement if you were applying for an internship in that department. The next two to arrive were Ernie and Susan from Hufflepuff. The majority of the students were Gryffindors who took the class either out of intense loyalty to Hagrid or because they figured the dangers of the class would add to their status. Apart from Harry, the Gryffindors included Seamus and surprisingly, Ron and Hermione. Or not surprising, depending on how often one decided to pass time inventing conspiracy theories. Neither of them had been fond of the class to begin with and had taken it because Harry was, but he had figured they would be too worried about their grades to take an insubstantial class just because it was 'cool'. Turns out he was wrong. Perhaps they would receive strait O's at the end of seventh year through a ploy of Dumbledore's on the condition that they kept up their friendship with Harry. Or maybe the aliens who stole the plane from the Pentagon wreckage decided to use mind control on the pair and convince them to take COMC so that once they graduated, they could be kidnapped and taken aboard a flying saucer to spend their days looking after giant aphids. Because naturally the care of giant aphids was a key part of the COMC curriculum at Hogwarts and as everyone knows, giant aphids are an alien's favorite pet.

Last to arrive were the Slytherins who included Blaise Zabini, Millicent Bulstrode, and Theodore Nott. For obvious reasons, Malfoy had decided not to take the course as it wasn't exactly right up his alley. Pity really since seeing the blond being attacked by assorted beasts provided key entertainment.

The three Slytherins traded the usual insults with the Gryffindors until Hagrid approached. Harry stepped out of the shadows right behind Ron and Hermione causing them to jump a little. They did not jump as high as he would have hoped though for you're not friends with Harry Potter for five years only to be spooked by a short brunette stepping out of the shadows. What's scary is when it's a grim like dog, or a dying Barty Crouch senior or a crowd of death eaters or a mountain troll or a psychotic house elf (Coughdobbycough).

The first class of the new school year was naturally something Hagrid would consider a treat. The key word in that sentence being _Hagrid_. Harry was relatively surprised to come out the other end with no-one having lost an eye or a limb or something insignificant like that. Fun though!

Checking his timetable, Harry then headed off to Transfiguration. Malfoy was in this class but the pair were slightly more mature this year then their fellow housemates and simply sat at opposite ends of the classroom and ignored each other. Yes they were very mature indeed. Especially if you figure out that this is just a more complex version of the silent treatment. Luckily for both their prides, no-one made this association.

Ron was not in this class having only got an A in his OWLs for this subject but Hermione was and took a seat beside Harry. Harry spent the five minutes before class started fielding questions about his and Ginny's 'relationship'. Giving a series of vague or illogical answers, Harry couldn't help but grin as Hermione became more and more exasperated. He decided that his reply of "I believe myself to be a small amphibian" was the one to tip the scales.

Hermione had soon decided to very maturely storm off to sit beside Lavender and Parvati. Yes very maturely. Has anyone else picked up on the similarities between the sixth years and the first year Hufflepuffs? You haven't? Gosh you are certainly not paying much attention.

Harry was very pleased with his new found solitude and was thus rather disappointed to have it spoiled by Dean who took a seat next to him just as McGonagall walked in meaning Harry couldn't send him away.

"Harry I need to talk to you." Dean whispered in a rather urgent voice that Harry considered to be ultimately melodramatic.

"Well here's your big chance Dean." Harry replied, barely moving his lips as McGonagall began marking the role.

Dean seemed unsure of where to start but whatever it is was obviously big because Dean looked one part horrified, one part scared, one part cautious, and one part absolutely thrilled. Harry was just about to tune out on him entirely when Dean finally got his message out.

"I know what you said to Hamish and the others." Dean finally burst out, slightly too loud, causing Professor McGonagall to shoot them a suspicious look.

Harry stiffened. This was not good. Damn that stupid Thomas kid and his inability to keep his mouth shut.

"Present!" He called out in response to their teacher. "What the hell are you talking about Dean?"

"I know what you and my ex-girlfriend are planning Harry. I figured it out after I heard Hamish and his friends when I went to say Hi to him after the sorting."

"And what is your opinion on what you have figured out?" Harry said "Choose your words wisely Dean" he continued as the other boy opened his mouth to reply "I'm sure you can figure out just what dire straits you will be in should you respond badly or dishonestly."

Dean paled slightly as Harry looked at him coolly. He was well aware of how much power this boy held within him and was not willing to risk getting on the bad side of the other Gryffindor. Particularly after having dated Ginny. He could well guess what a deadly team the two would make.

"My opinion-" He started "My opinion on what he said?" Harry rolled his eyes and nodded encouragingly "Ah, I think that while I'm not yet willing to disillusion myself entirely, you do make a good point."

Harry looked at him for a moment before then offering an honest smile.

"That was a good answer." He said

"Gentlemen, if you would kindly turn your attention back to the front of the classroom, I would very much love to begin teaching my class." Professor McGonagall snapped causing Dean to jump and Harry to simply blink and gaze towards the deputy headmistress.

Dean surreptitiously checked around him to make sure no-one had heard their conversation. Confirming this, he tucked his head down to concentrate on his work. Harry, already knowing they had been discreet enough just smiled again.

The pair worked quietly for the remainder of the lesson. When they finished, Dean and Harry both packed up and as Harry walked away, Dean saw a note slipped between the flaps of his satchel.

_Dean,_

_If this note is still here, you've just asked me about what I said to your brother and given me a good response to my question. If you wish to talk, I have no class between two thirty and four. I will be in the Room of Requirement. You will not be able to find the entrance if you bring anyone else with you so don't even try no matter what the reason._

_With love,_

_The-boy-who-lived-to-take-over-the-world_

_(You'd be surprised at how accurate that title is or will be)_

Dean blinked twice before quickly setting the note on fire with a spell and blowing the cinders. He swung his satchel over his shoulder and headed towards Greenhouse number eight.

- - - - - - - - - -

"This is the first meeting of HFH. Are we all in attendance?"

"Ah, I'm sorry Hamish but, what exactly does HFH stand for?" Georgina asked.

The six first year Hufflepuffs were all sitting beneath a large staircase between a stack of old DADA text books and a large telescope. It was roughly ten past one and everyone else was in the Great Hall eating their lunch. The group had grabbed some rolls off of their houses table before heading off to find a secret meeting area. They could have simply discussed these matters quietly somewhere open but Patrick had the subtlety of a warthog wearing Chanel No. 5.

"Georgina, I realize you were not available to hear this discussion on the train but do try to keep with the times please." Hamish said with an eye roll. Georgina had the decency to blush "HFH stands for-"

"Hufflepuffs for Harry!" Patrick yelled causing the others to wince and Leonia and Joseph to quickly cast the sloppy silencing charms they'd just learnt for this purpose, over the area.

"Yes Patrick that sounds about right. Now... who wants summarize the events we've experienced with Harry so far?"

"I do! I do!" Patrick cried jumping up and down and waving his arms.

"Anyone?" Hamish asked and finally Leonia raised her hand.

"We first met him as he walked though the doors of our compartment upon the train known as the Hogwarts Express. He entered very dramatically and we could all immediately see the charisma rolling off of him in waves to pool around us, supporting us encouragingly as we tried to quash our nervousness for our arrival into the school known as Hogwarts, known as our new home." She began as though reciting an epic. Someone had read one too many David Eddings books.

Patrick, who was living proof that humans are distantly related to goldfish, began to get distracted and seemed to be humming under his breath. Joseph winced as he recognized the signs. He carefully redoubled the still weak silencing charms on their area.

"He introduced himself and quelled our fears before expressing and interest in formally making our acquaintance." Leonia continued blissfully unaware of what was unfolding "We began with young Hamish Thomas who seemed slightly in awe of the presence before him whom he had only heard of through his brother Dean Thomas, a house-mate and year-mate of Harry Potter's. Harry then addressed the young man with-"

"_If you're a puffer and you know it clap your hands (clap, clap)_

_For we are the greatest house in all the lands (clap, clap)_

_If you're a puffer you're quite pretty_

_So please join my little ditty_

_And we'll compete against all of the greatest bands (clap, clap)_"

"_Addressed_ the young man with kindly words and mentions of his elder brother. He offered advice and reminisced over past individuals. Hamish then acknowledged the advice and-"

"_If you're Georgina or Leonia nod your head (Georgina nodded)_

_We're so sorry that we pulled you out of bed (nod, nod)_

_For we really wanted pie_

_And we thought it worth a try_

_So we feasted till our faces turned quite red (nod, nod)"_

"We all went through our greetings including Andrew and were then offered an allegiance with the upstanding gentleman and the young lady known as Ginny Weasley. We accepted and he made his goodbyes in a stylish manner before exiting-"

"_Soooooooo…_

_If you're a puffer and you know it clap your hands"_

The other Hufflepuffs except Leonia all clapped and began singing along.

"_For we are the greatest house in all the lands (clap, clap)"_

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" Leonia yelled. She then sighed "Meeting adjourned." And then began singing as well.

"_If you're a puffer you're quite pretty_

_So please join my little ditty_

_And we'll compete against all of the greatest bands (clap, clap)_"

- - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry it's short, please review, I'll try to keep updating regularly but I'm busy.

I know it seems like I'm setting it up for it but please believe me when I confirm that this is still never a _real_ HarryGinny. I do have a reason for the current deception the two are trying. This does however lead me to an interesting point raised by one of my reviewers. Pairings.

Should I leave this story as no pairing, give it a Hetero pairing or should I make it slash? All characters except Ginny are current options so please have a think about what it is you want. I personally would like it to have a pairing because it can be awful lonely ruling the world on your own (and yes, if you haven't figured it out, Harry does plan on taking over the wizarding world) but I will take into account my readers opinions because, after the end of chapter 5, the plot is in a current kind of flux so things can be changed accordingly. As such, if there are any other elements you would like me to consider, let me know.

The next chapter will be longer because I have a teeny tiny bit more time on my hands at the moment.


	4. Quitate La Mascara

**Authors Note**: Alrighty then. My reviewers are awesome, but no-one actually told me what they wanted me to do about pairings so I am asking again now just in case you do actually have opinions and just failed to read the note at the end of the last chapter. The note was as follows:

Should I leave this story as no pairing, give it a Hetero pairing or should I make it slash? All characters except Ginny are current options so please have a think about what it is you want. I personally would like it to have a pairing because it can be awful lonely ruling the world on your own (and yes, if you haven't figured it out, Harry does plan on taking over the wizarding world) but I will take into account my readers opinions because, after the end of chapter 5, the plot is in a current kind of flux so things can be changed accordingly. As such, if there are any other elements you would like me to consider, let me know.

So yeah, does anyone wish to share their opinions? Just so you know, if you don't tell me and I decide on one you don't like, you are not allowed to complain because I did ask. Yes that is another ploy to make you review but it is a valid point.

Last thing: Do you guys actually like the little Patrick segments at the end of each chapter or should I stop writing them? Okay that's it… um… ah… ON WITH THE STORY!

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling. She dresses him in leather and shows him off at parties. She keeps him chained in her bedroom closet and feeds him strawberry shortcake.

**Chapter 4**

At three o-clock that afternoon, Dean Thomas made his way towards the Room of Requirement. He was naturally a tad nervous to meet the new and improved Harry, not knowing quite what to expect. To reassure himself, he began humming _If you're happy and you know it clap your hands_. He'd had it stuck in his head since lunch time with no idea why. As he reached the hallway where the room was located, he paused to look around before walking backwards and forwards several times wishing for the room Harry Potter could be found in. After the third try, a large, black, heavy door with ancient looking symbols on it appeared. He carefully opened the door and looked into the pitch blackness within.

Before his eyes could adjust, he heard an amused voice.

"Step into my parlor"

'Said the spider to the fly' Dean thought to himself and steeled his nerves to move through the doorway, and close the heavy gothic monstrosity behind him. As soon as he did so, there was a whooshing sound as the room was instantly dimly lit by the light of a fireplace on the wall to his left. Dean glanced around and blanched at the sight before him.

There were no windows in the room. To Dean's left was the fireplace and a dust covered and torn, red velvet backed chair. On the back wall was a large table with… were those manacles attached to it? Shaking away the mental images this encouraged, Dean looked at the assortment of items in the room, ranging from sinisterly looming bookcases, to a foe-glass, to a bear skin rug on the floor. He looked around at the few bare places and paled even further as he noticed something akin to blood spatters upon the walls. In the centre of the room in an oversized wing-backed chair sat Harry with a disturbingly evil smirk on his face.

"Ah, welcome to my underground lair." He said and Dean could not help but roll his eyes at the continuous choice of clichés. "Please, have a seat Mister Thomas."

Dean went over to the chair next to the fireplace and thumped his fist against the back. A cloud of dust immediately surrounded him and he coughed. It was now Harry's turn to roll his eyes which he did before casting a cleaning charm on the chair.

"Why didn't you just ask for a clean chair to begin with?" Dean asked as he sat down.

"I would have but this way was by far more ominous. I tried to give this room a slight _Poe_ feel to it."

"Well you certainly succeeded in that department." Dean commented wryly and Harry grinned.

"See, this is why you are a useful person to have around. Ron wouldn't have understood that and Hermione would have analyzed the shit out of it before running to Dumbledore to tell him I've gone dark and Ginny doesn't know enough about Muggle stuff to get it either. I'm not even going to go into what any of the first years would have said about it."

Dean grinned as well; feeling a bit more relaxed now. He enjoyed Harry's humor immensely since the two of them were the only two in their year who could laugh about some clearly Muggle things. While Seamus was a half blood, he didn't live in the Muggle world and thus did not understand a lot of the humor that came with American cinema and T.V, not to mention old time poets and the originators of detective fiction.

"What did you want to talk about Dean?" Harry asked, startling Dean out of his thoughts. Dean frowned slightly in confusion.

"I thought _you_ wanted to talk to me about something?" He said, confused.

Harry smiled triumphantly.

"I said that if _you_ wished to talk, I would be here. I never said anything about me wanting to say anything. But I have to admit, it was one of my cleverer ideas. You said you were not ready to be disillusioned but yet, you came, assuming I would do just that. You said I make a good point, not that I was right, but yet you have no questions. That indicates to me that you are either one of the smartest men alive, or you do wish for me to explain my views and then will probably join my side during this war. So the real question is which explanation is right?"

Dean stared at Harry for several minutes, apparently weighing up his answer. He narrowed his eyes, and then raised them to the ceiling with a sigh.

"I'll need some more information about what your plans are if I'm going to get involved in this." He said and Harry nodded in acceptance. He leaned over the side of his chair and picked up something from the floor next to him there. He held the item that Dean could now identify as a leather bound book out to the boy beside the fireplace.

"This contains all my notes that I started after Sirius' death last year. It's all evidence I can see about both the Ministry and Dumbledore's hypocrisy, any deals between organizations, assorted relevant laws, the basic foundation of Wizengamots, some historical leaders, the current leaders of assorted societies and organizations, and all the plans Ginny and I have come up with so far. Ginny has a copy, as do I. Now can I ask you what it looks like to you from where you sit?"

"It- it looks like a leather bound book with red writing on the cover."

Harry smiled jubilantly. This was the key to the whole thing. Anyone who was unsure about or disloyal to his ideology would simply see a thin blue parchment case. Anyone who was supportive but not loyal to Harry himself would see the leather bound book and those who would stick by him through everything would see the red writing. He was slightly surprised that Dean was already at this stage but he guessed that the other boy must have already been more than a little untrusting of Dumbledore and after the DA last year, he probably held at least some respect for Harry that had developed after watching him and hearing his own younger brother.

Realizing that telling the boy this would simply send him into denial, Harry simply explained that an untrustworthy person would see the blue case and handed Dean the book. The pair exited the room and headed off to class, neither realizing they were being watched.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Good afternoon class, I am Professor Stynehope. Please take out your wands, a small piece of parchment, and your quill and ink." The new professor walked briskly into the room, dropping several heavy books and boxes onto her desk. She was in her mid thirties wearing a loose, open front, black robe over Muggle clothes. As the class pulled out the gear that had been listed she turned to look at them. "Are we mailing home for our equipment children or can I expect to see it on your desks some time in the next hour?" She asked in a falsely innocent voice that any student recognizes as saying 'Don't fuck with me I'm _so_ not in the mood to be teaching this class'.

Hogwarts students are no exception from the norm and the class hurried their search through the eternal depths of school satchels. As soon as they were all ready, Professor Stynehope nodded.

"Better," she said as she charmed a piece of chalk which began sketching and shading something on the black board behind her "You will all have these items out on your desks before I arrive for the beginning of every lesson. I do not tolerate tardiness, laziness, or stupidity. If you feel you are below standard, keep your mouth shut in class, learn what I tell you, attempt every task set, and see me at the end of lessons if you wish for extra work. Now," She turned to face the board as the chalk appeared to be finishing up "On the piece of parchment I had you get out, write the date, and the heading First Lesson: Vampires."

With these words Harry perked up entirely. _This_ was something he could use, and since he did not plan to be at Hogwarts for much longer, he had to soak it up fast. Watching his new teacher carefully, he cast a quick spell on the parchment he had selected so that whatever he wrote down would appear in the book. There was already some information written in it on this topic but Harry was only planning on writing down what he didn't already know anyway and this new teacher didn't seem like she would fool around with the obvious stuff.

"Vampires, while technically classified as Magical Creatures, are actually as intelligent as or more so than most wizards since the majority of their kind once were such people. They have their own Government and societies with strict codes of conduct, much like the more civilized werewolf packs. Yes, they do survive by blood but they can drink the blood of all non-venomous creatures and some venomous and thus, for the most part, they do not hinder our society. They will drink happily from willing humans and if the blood lust is upon them, from non-willing humans as well. Who can tell me what the blood lust is? Yes Miss Granger."

"The blood lust is the uncontrollable urge all vampires feel to consume blood. It overcomes them if they wait too long between drinks. It leads vampires to attack living creatures and, if in a full blood lust, they will drain them of all their blood. This is why the Ministry lists vampires as dangerous magical creatures and imposes containing laws."

The new professor looked at Hermione with no expression on her face.

"Miss Granger, while large portions of what you said were true, I asked simply what the blood lust _is_ not what it causes, why vampires are dangerous, or why the Ministry creates laws." Hermione shrank back in her seat, not used to being chastised for her input "Now, as Miss Granger _kindly_ pointed out, the blood lust is the uncontrollable urge to consume blood. It is not however something all vampires suffer from as some learn to contain it entirely. It is not something limited only to vampires; some werewolves suffer from these attacks and, while not consuming the blood, feel the need to spill it. Some Muggles and Wizarding folk also suffer from it, feeling it in a way similar to battle haze or sexual lust."

Harry blinked. This was something he hadn't heard before and it would certainly explain a few things about people like Voldemort or MacNair. He raised his hand slowly.

"Yes Mister Potter."

"When humans suffer from it, is that what leads to berserkers and the like?"

"Yes indeed Mister Potter. For those of you who don't know, berserkers are individuals who lose complete control of themselves in a fight. A berserker will not kill those on his or her own side but will lose all fear and remorse, killing viciously and efficiently without lenience. They were more obvious in the wars of the past where people fought each other directly. There are mentions of them in both Muggle and Wizarding historical texts as being thought of as God Touched. Write this down as it will be important in later lessons." The sound of quills scratching immediately filled the room and Professor Stynehope rolled her eyes "For future reference, everything I say is useful for later so just plan to be writing the whole time _children_.

It is most common for a vampire to come into existence by being turned from their human form by having almost all of their blood drained and then drinking the blood of the vampire who drank their blood. It must be this vampire, while there are rumors of vampires turning humans they have found almost drained from another's feastings, they are just that, rumors. A person who is turned will stay the age they were when turned for as long as they live, be it eight or eighty. Vampires can, in more rare circumstances be born from the union of two ancient vampires but this is rare as most male vampires, while not impotent, are usually sterile. Vampire children born from two vampires will age to twenty-five before gaining what can only be referred to as a vampires eternal youth. These children are clearly vampires from birth as they cannot consume anything but blood to gain nutrition."

Professor Stynehope continued on the topic of vampires for the rest of the lesson. She occasionally asked questions to test their level and to make sure they were paying attention. When it was almost the end of the lesson, three knocks were heard on the door. Their new professor scowled.

"Enter." She called out with yet another eye roll.

There was a pause for a moment and then Patrick Granger bounced in. Literally _bounced_ into the room.

"Haloooo!" He cried out, reminding Harry further of the children's character Tigger.

"Oh good Lord." Hermione murmured from Harry's left making him grin in anticipation.

"I'm Patrick Granger," the exuberant youth cried with what appeared to be delighted surprise. It seemed he'd only just remembered this and had decided to share it with the world. Or maybe he had an ulterior motive for this visit. "Professor McGonagall said I could find my big sister Hermione here. Hi Hermione!"

"Hello Patrick." Hermione said weakly with a slight wave.

"I brought you- hello Harry Potter! Wow you're here too. This is like _the_ class to be in huh?" Patrick interrupted himself with a grin.

"Hello Patrick how are you settling in?" Harry said with what he felt was a benevolent smile. He _was_ aiming to outdo Dumbledore after all.

"I'm doing great and- oh yeah Hermione! That book you like so much was in my suitcase." Patrick held out a book that Harry immediately recognized from having it shoved under his nose so many times as Hogwarts, A History. "I'm not sure how it ended up there," Patrick continued as Hermione gasped and leapt forward to snatch it out of his hands "Ah, I should warn you, I didn't realize it was yours at first so I just used it for all sorts of things thinking no one would need it." Patrick's warning came a moment too late as Hermione uttered a small scream causing Ron to look at her in alarm and then in delight as he saw the state of the book that had been the bane of his and Harry's existence. Patrick continued his speech with a slightly downcast look; well, as downcast as he could manage anyway. "I kind of used it to serve some pie on and, ah, I needed some spare paper for notes because I forgot the parchment stuff. Why can't I just use an exercise book anyway? So anyway, then Hamish wanted to practice drawing cartoon faces so I said he could draw them on the cover because it was pretty boring and ah, yeah… I think that's it. You're not mad are you?"

"…"

"Hermione?"

"Patrick," Hermione said very calmly, surprising Harry until he heard her next comment "If you are not at the opposite end of the castle in the next ten seconds, do not expect to make dinner tonight. Or breakfast tomorrow, or lunch, or-" She didn't need to continue as Patrick had already sprinted out of the room, leaving an irate Hermione, a sniggering class, and a slightly miffed Professor Stynehope.

- - - - - - - - - -

Patrick Granger, Harry had decided, was the scariest and most delightful eleven year old boy in the freaking universe. No-one could have devised a greater way to torture Hermione and yet the child appeared to have come up with it without even intending to.

It was now early evening and most of the students and teachers were settled in the Great Hall to eat. Harry was talking to two third years, Natalie McDonald and Dennis Creevey. Since one of them already hero worshipped him and the other was intelligent enough to understand what he was talking about, Harry had figured this would be a good place to start with the middle year students. He felt he was doing quite well at his attempt to drop his hints in such a way as it would be clear to anyone who had the whole message but just confusing for anyone who only heard a one off comment. A silencing charm surrounding the three of them and Ginny also helped matters greatly when it came to planning a rebellion literally right under Dumbledore's nose. Ginny was sitting opposite him grinning as she saw Dumbledore giving her approving looks, obviously having been told about their "relationship" and looking upon it with approval. At one point she took out her copy of the book and wrote her brother and Hermione's names on a page titled Dumbledore's Army. This information would have instantly appeared in both Harry and Dean's books as well. And since we are already talking about him;

"Harry, I believe this belongs to you." Dean said slipping into the seat next to the raven haired boy, sliding the book across the table, albeit surreptitiously since Dumbledore always kept one eye on wherever Harry was sitting.

Seeing Harry's questioning look, Dean nodded.

"I'm with you." He confirmed slightly unnecessarily.

"Then keep the book." Harry said, sliding it back "Ginny and I plan every evening from six thirty till nine in the library. Well, more correctly, I plan. Ginny just researches things I don't know I'll need yet and uses her psychic abilities to guess everything I'm going to say." Harry finished before turning back to the patiently waiting pair of third years.

"You have psychic abilities?" Dean asked the red-head, slightly confused with Harry's choice of words.

"That's just Harry's way of saying I actually have a clue and have been very useful to him. He pretends to be annoyed with me and want to get rid of me but in truth, he's glad to have me around. You can tell because he automatically includes me in things, like he gave me one of those books too."

"You know Ginny," Harry commented mildly "Some people don't enjoy being psychoanalyzed."

"Yes but if I didn't your head would swell up to such a size as to be capable of annihilating small European countries with a nod."

"Dean, are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into?" Harry confirmed with a worried look.

"Of course Harry, I was supposed to be dating her until Dumbledore said I couldn't come and stay at the castle with you guys. Plus most of her brothers are really creepy." Dean added with a shudder.

"Wait, Dumbledore wouldn't let you come stay in the castle? Mum and Dad said that you'd been invited and had said it sounded awful to have to spend that much time stuck with us. That was why I dumped you." Ginny said, looking both wary and angry.

"Why would I say that Ginny? I was dating you at the time."

"Those _bastards_! They are wrecking my sex life! I'll kill 'em." Ginny ground out managing to look about as threatening as a duckling crossed with a furbie. Big blue eyes and perfect curls are not always a blessing.

"Ginny darling, as much as it would please me to watch you slaughter your parents, don't you think you are over reacting a little? You are also drawing a lot of unwanted attention from our watcher at the head table who will probably try to have Dean killed if you pay more attention to him then to your pretend boyfriend. Another point I would also like to bring up is the fact that you are fifteen. You're not supposed to have a sex life yet."

"I'm planning ahead." Ginny replied with a lofty sniff but she did calm down a little and threw some 'surreptitious' (note the sarcasm) looks of adoration at Harry so as to improve on their esteemed headmasters mood. This worked perfectly and the balmy gentleman was soon beaming again meaning Dean could sleep safely at night.

"Okay Harry, we promise not to tell people." Natalie McDonald said after they had both promised Harry their loyalty.

He was trying to beat the record for quickest conversion rate. He was aiming for loyalty before dessert but he was quite pleased that he'd gotten them sworn in before they'd finished their sticky date pudding.

"What about Colin?" Dennis asked looking worried because the Creevey boys had a rule that neither could keep 'Harry information' from the other.

"Tell him it's a big secret and he has to come find me some time when I'm alone so I can tell him myself."

"Oh okay. Can he come to your dorm and talk to you tonight?" Dennis asked.

"Uh, sure I guess, but at all other times, none of you can come into my dormitory to contact me okay? Everyone needs their own personal space."

"Bummer."

"Shut up Gin I had more than enough non-requested wake up calls during the vacation to last me a life time."

"Aww I have a nickname now. You're not doing very well at cementing your position as uncaring bastard. You've been a sweetheart to me, you went out of your way to help Andrew, although who wouldn't help him? You are letting Creeveys into your sleeping quarters, you joked with Hufflepuffs, and you gave Dean the benefit of the doubt and then an explanation and a book. Why do you keep saying you trying to sever all connections?"

"…"

"Harry?"

"You said that out of order Ginny and I was thinking. I will now change my plan. I will sever all _positive_ connections with people I don't like. I will make stronger connections with people I think will ultimately help me."

"Of course Harry because every single activity you execute _must_ be part of a pan including social interactions."

"Sarcasm is the last bastion of failing wit Ginny."

"Bugger off."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Psst Harry."

"Dean?"

"Yeah, can I climb over there?"

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me. I only just got Colin to piss off!"

"I'll take that as a yes then."

There was silence for a moment and then the curtains around Harry's bed were pulled to the side and Dean sat down cross-legged at the foot of the bed.

"Colin came in then huh?"

"Yeah, I didn't really want to include him or his brother in this thing because they are kind of obsessed enough with me as it is but I am going for easy marks and those two are definitely easy ones and they have plenty of friends who they could influence."

"Okay then I guess that makes sense. Ah… Harry?"

"What is it Dean?"

"How did this 'thing' start anyway?"

"…"

"You don't have to tell me. It was just a question and it was kind of stupid anyway and-"

"Shut up Dean I'm going to tell you, it's not that big of a deal."

"Oh alright then Harry. Sorry."

"No apologies necessary. Like I said, it's not a big deal. After my godfather dies I was pretty cut up. Dumbledore had also just revealed that stupid prophesy to me and I was angry with him for keeping it from me."

"You mean the prophesy you noted in the book?" Dean cut in

"Yes. Please don't interrupt me again."

"Sorry Harry."

"It's okay. Anyway, the order- yes the one in the book Dean- they threatened my Aunt and Uncle to make sure they treated me right. You may realize this already since you have a Muggle background but many Muggles, when threatened by the unfamiliar lash out at all representations of it. The closest one for magic as it was in this case was me. I was locked in my room for a large portion of the summer before coming here. I wasn't given much food and I was occasionally beat up by my uncle or cousin. My aunt was fairly decent to me. I think she felt sorry for me and missed having me helping in the kitchen in the holidays. I managed to get a letter to Dumbledore and the Weasleys but I did not even receive a reply. I realized during this period that a lot of what Dumbledore stands up for about Muggles is false. I should probably have figured that one out by myself simply going on my childhood but I didn't. Now don't take this the wrong way, I don't want to go out and slaughter Muggles, nor do I consider muggleborn witches and wizards beneath me. I simply want a better system set up for the detection of muggleborn children. Then I would make sure that their family was examined for signs of struggles, rifts, prejudices and abuse. From their, financial support and counseling could be arranged or if worse came to worse, the child could be taken and adopted elsewhere. I also would like for muggleborns to be given a crash course on wizarding society before entering it so that they don't receive a cultural shock as big as the one I did when I first entered this… well I guess you could call it a realm." Harry grinned a little at Dean "Any questions?"

Dean blinked slowly.

"I guess that all makes sense. But couldn't you have done all of that with your position as boy-who-lived? As soon as you finish school, provided you-know-who doesn't kill you, doors will open for you in every direction."

"Yeah I probably could have. I started researching what I could from my room in the first half of the vacation and I had enough there to approach Dumbledore about options when I next saw him. I was a little upset about being ignored but I just figured that Voldemort must have been causing problems and making communication difficult. However, as you know, I was kidnapped in late July and brought back here. Dumbledore smiled and greeted me and asked how my vacation had been. I thought at first that perhaps he hadn't received my letter but then he made some comments about hoping I'd settled back into being part of a normal family and hadn't been expecting too much out of them. He went on to say how great they were and how happy I should be to have them. I clicked about then, realizing exactly how he saw my involvement in this war, as his personal weapon, ready to be disposed of after used and stored on a shelf before such time. I began researching all the different organizations I'd encountered since entering Hogwarts. It's amazing really how different they actually are as compared to what we are usually taught. Our new defense professor is the first to approach vampires as they really are rather then as how the ministry wants us to see them. You should see what the syllabus says we should be studying about them. By now we should all be wearing garlic and be having night terrors. Remember all those rumors about Quirrell facing vampires in our first year and how horrified the upper years were? This is where that stemmed from.

"Anyway, I began realizing that it was ages since someone had gone through all this from an unbiased perspective and rewritten them all. No one who is in any position to do so has any plans on approaching it and the chances are, no one will. I began planning my take over at that stage. I figured that while, I couldn't do it alone, I couldn't do it with the help of those I called my friends either. So yeah, I ditched the losers, worked on gaining a pint sized army, and here we are."

"Okay, but Harry, I thought you said it wasn't a big deal. As far as I know, being locked up, starved, and beaten constitutes as a big deal in anyone's books." Dean said, still hung up on this insight into Harry's life.

"Maybe it should be a big deal but with my childhood, I wouldn't consider it anything major."

"I'm so sorry Harry, I had no idea."

"'sokay Dean, not many did. Ron saw the damage done during the past times we shared a room after I left their house but he didn't seem to think much of it or care. His parents must have also realized how serious it was because people their age would have seen noticed skinny I was coming back. They just seemed keen on fattening me up enough that none of you guys would notice though. I didn't share a room with the other kid Weasleys so they wouldn't have been able to tell. Well, until this summer that is. Fred and George saw as well because they shared with me and Ron. They were pretty upset about it as I remember and they still keep coming up to check that I'm okay."

"Christ Harry of course they do. You mean something to them; they see you as kind of an extra younger brother." Dean cried out making Harry extra glad he'd had a silencing charm up on his bed since the other boy had arrived.

"Yeah, I guess I am which is a pity because I'd wanted to ignore that family entirely. But I suppose six out of nine isn't too bad. I guess I'll have to go talk to them tomorrow. They've probably already figured most of this out knowing them but I may as well formalize it."

"Alright Harry, see you in the morning."

"Yeah g'night Dean."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Okay then, welcome to our first official meeting. We'll start by Ginny confirming everyone is present before we begin. Just nod your head so we know, we don't need excessive displays of vocal talent to see who's here."

It was five thirty in the evening on the third of September after a fairly regular day of classes. Harry had spoken to the twins that morning and after they had suggested it he was now holding a meeting of all confirmed supporters in the Room of Requirement which he had redecorated to have a slightly more cheerful feel to it.

"Fred Weasley… George Weasley… Dean Thomas… Harry _duh_… Colin Creevey… Dennis Creevey… Natalie McDonald… Eleanor Greengrass… Jack Castor… Troy Castor… Alicia Wilforth… Penelope Footswitch… Hamish Thomas… Leonia Blankov… Joseph Tumwater-Crescent… Georgina Clapmatch… Andrew Forester… Tillie Rollin… and finally Patrick Granger."

"PRESENT!"

"Yes Patrick we know." Ginny commented calmly as she rolled up her list.

"Alright then since we are all here, I must first thank you all for supporting me on this-"

"Noooo problem Harry because you're and you stopped my sister from killing me which she might have because she really likes that book but that's okay because you stopped her and-"

"_Silencio_."

"Thanks Ginny. As I was saying… thanks. Now, during the summer, I made a book which contains information and plans for what will be done. I have given one copy to Ginny and one to Dean which unfortunately means I now have to give one to everyone in this group in the top three years so Fred, George, Colin, they are all yours… enjoy. Colin, as tempting as it may be, you cannot show the contents in this book to your brother or anyone else for that matter. Can you three please open them to the front page and sign your names so I can know their location at any time."

The three boys immediately did so. Harry was rather pleased by this because he had realized that the down side of handing them out at a meeting was that if he asked them to describe them, everyone else who may not be as trustworthy would know immediately what they should look for or describe themselves if they were given a copy. He had thus changed it so that the same spell meant they couldn't open the books if they were not up to the level of loyalty Harry required.

"Now that that is done, I'm afraid this is the boring part in which you are all allocated jobs. It should be fairly obvious by now that Ginny is my second."

"I am?" Ginny asked startled by this

"Yes Ginny you are and you are probably the only person here who hadn't seen that coming. Anyway, yes that does mean that she gets to boss you around, including you two Fred and George. She will also often be used to relay messages as she doesn't attract as much attention as I do. Now, first year Hufflepuffs, have you mapped that area I circled? Yes? Alright pass the map to Ginny. All first years split into groups of two, preferably with someone of your own house. Tillie, Eleanor, you two can be together. Don't look so distraught Greengrass, Gryffindors don't bite. Alright, all pairs will be given a map similar to the one the Hufflepuffs had up until thirty seconds ago. On the map is marked a route to the kitchens from your common rooms, the location of all main classrooms, your Head of House's office, and some other useful places. There is also a circled area which I would like you to draw an accurate map of, at least to the best of your abilities. I'm not expecting miracles. This will be your task for the next twenty four hours in between class time. Eleanor, Tillie, I expect you to get along. House prejudices are stupid and simply encourage Dumbledore's belief system. Don't lower yourselves to that."

"Yes Mister Harry sir."

"Yes Mister Harry sir."

"Very good of you girls. Okay, secondly, Fred, George, you've been at this school a while, who would you recommend we aim for in conversions?"

"Start with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. They have less inbuilt-"

"House prejudices. You could probably hit a large portion of the Gryffindor fourth years since they were in their first year when Sirius was on the run and he was a large part of what made them agree to support Dumbledore so now that he's innocent,"

"They are probably having a few doubts about Dumbledore big thing of protecting them from him when, as it turns out, he was"

"Actually quite a nice guy. We'd guess that the second and third years of every house are malleable so try them next."

"If they see the first years are loyal to you then they may see the light fairly quickly."

"Thanks guys." Harry said with a grin "I would like the pair of you to spend time perfecting all those creations you have sitting around as stock for when you can open your shop again. Some can be really useful in all scenarios. If you need help, get Colin and Dennis since they would be good at doing exact measurements for shifting substances after all that time working on developing film." Both sets of brothers smiled "Eleanor, Tillie, both of you keep an eye out on the other Slytherins and Gryffindors. Try and stop the first years from gaining prejudices and keep an eye out for outcasts in other years. If someone is really different from the others, drop a few hints and see if you can bring them along to our meeting tomorrow. It will be at the same time by the way and you can bring along anyone you think could be trustworthy because I will have memory charms prepared for anyone who isn't. Dean, Ginny, see if you can talk to other people near our age group, try and get to speak to Luna for example." Harry paused to look at them all "We only have a few days or at most a week to gather people and information so we have to act fast. Please do your best but still pay attention to your classes as the information is important. Alright you can all head off to dinner now. Make sure you take the time this evening to explore those areas first years."

- - - - - - - - - -

Mr. and Mrs. Granger were sitting in their living room that evening. They had just finished a long day at the clinic and were both tired but that didn't stop them worrying about Patrick.

"I'm not sure we should have let him go to that school honey." Mrs. Granger said

"I know what you mean. Hermione is very sensible but I'm afraid that Patrick is so easy to befriend that he may end up in some weird cult with unmentionable practices." Her husband replied.

"Yes, maybe we should pull him out of there now before anything goes wrong and… what was that?" They both got up and went over to the window where an owl was tapping for entry.

"Oh let him in dear, it could be from Pat."

"Of course darling I was just about to. Oh that's funny, Hermione never sent red ones before."

"Er, I think it's starting to smoke."

"HI MUM! HI DAD! THIS IS A HOWLER AND THEY ARE SOOOO COOL BECAUSE THEY SPEAK THINGS I WRITE OUT LOUD! IT'S GREAT AND HERMIONE IS MAD AT ME BECAUSE I WRECKED THAT BOOK SHE LIKES BUT I MET HARRY POTTER AND HE'S REALLY COOL AS WELL. MY HOUSE IS CALLED HUFFLEPUF AND I HAVE SOME COOL FRIENDS WHO I THINK YOU'D LIKE AND I'M HAVING SOOOO MUCH FUN. YAAAAAY! THERE'S PIE AS WELL. CAN I HAVE A PET DRAGON? PLEASE? THEY'RE REALLY USEFUL. YOU CAN USE THEM TO LIGHT FIRES AND TO KNOCK DOWN WALLS AND TO STRING UP YOUR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE-"

Mr. Granger placed his arm around his wife and grinned as he looked at the screaming envelope.

"Eh, it doesn't sound like he's been too seriously affected."

"PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE-"

- - - - - - - - - -

You likey? I'm quite fond of this chapter. Ah, I am now certain that Fred, George and Luna will be with Harry. Severus will probably just remain as a fighter for all sides for the moment though maybe not Harry's (the animosity y'know). Right now, the split for Draco is dead even between Harry and Voldemort so I haven't settled on one yet so you'll have to keep telling me your opinions.

This is another note about pairings. Slash, Het, or none? And if you pick to have a pairing, who with? I won't do HarryGinny so don't even ask. I'd kind of like it to be an irregular pairing but I may end up settling for something normal.

Do you want me to keep doing the Patrick segments at the end of each chapter? This one was short because he played a big role in the chapter itself and I was actually going to cut it off after the Hermione thing but then I had this great idea for the dinner conversation and then I just _had_ to continue.

Keep reviewing please! I have thirteen as of now (4 for ch1, 4 for ch2, 5 for ch3)


	5. Guarare

**Authors Note:** I LOVE YOU ALL! I have so many reviews. It is awesome. Everyone likes Patrick (or loves to hate him, although I don't see how you could possibly hate him) so his segments at the end are staying. Draco's nice, Harry loving side won through in the end though if I get too many complaints I may just give him a split personality disorder. BTW how was my explanation about why Harry began his planning? Did it work well with a logical conclusion? About pairings; I have been collecting opinions via reviews and also from those of you who read it and then just tell me directly at work/home/college/etc. As it stands right now, everyone has a different idea and only two people have overlapped. Therefore, I am creating a running poll that will be displayed at the start of every chapter (yes, other people have done it before). So if you wish to give an opinion about which pairing (if any) you want to see in this story, just let me know in a review or if you know me, directly. I am including as options, all the ones that have been given in so far. If the pairing you want isn't here, you can still vote for it but I won't include it unless more than one person asks _very_ politely. If you already sent in an opinion and it's not on the polls, I probably did not see it before publishing and consider it to be added to the list already. At the end of the list I will write a quick paragraph about my opinion on writing the story using the pairing that is winning at the publishing time for each chapter. The current options are as follows:

**Harry/Dean- 2**

**Harry/Neville- 1**

**Harry/Draco- 1**

**Harry/Remus- 1**

**Harry/Severus- 1**

**Harry/Seamus- 1**

**Harry/Luna- 1**

**Harry/Hannah- 1**

**Harry/Susan- 1**

**Harry/Lavender- 1**

**Harry/Parvati- 1**

**Harry/Sally-Anne- 1**

**Harry/Hestia- 1**

**Harry/Tonks- 1**

**Harry/Daphne- 1**

**No Pairing- 1**

As you can all see, the spread is fairly wide with only Harry/Dean doubling up. I think the main reason this came up is because of the major Dean focus of the last chapter but that wasn't something I essentially planned to continue. I personally think it would be fun to write a Harry/Dean story since I've never seen one and I like doing things differently. Plus then Harry could be a second big brother to Hamish (no I won't set him up with Hermione simply so he can be Patrick's big brother). I've kind of already set this one up by accident so I wouldn't need to do much to make it a pairing (see the talk on Harry's bed in the last chapter if you don't know what I'm talking about). If you think this pairing sucks, do not despair as I could just as easily make it purely platonic between the two of them.

The only two pairings I do not particularly like on the list are Harry/Hestia, Harry/Tonks as I would have no idea of where to go with them and I don't see Harry having a "thing" for older women. But then hey, it can't be too hard to write can it? Hell I do most of my writing strait after getting up at five in the morning or really late at night so if I try it after a caffeine fix, I should be able to breeze through it.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling. She dresses him in leather and shows him off at parties. She keeps him chained in her bedroom closet and feeds him strawberry shortcake. She keeps him clean though; sponge baths are always fun.

**Chapter 5**

_Dear Remus,_

_Hi, how's it all going? Are you coping okay looking after Grimmauld Place? I know you didn't want to and I'm sorry it got slotted to you. Have you heard about Andrew Forester in the papers? Well if you haven't he's a new first year that got bitten by Grayback a little while ago. He is a really sweet kid who I think you would like. Anyway, I kind of made friends with him because he needed the support and I kind of promised him I'd contact you to try and get you to come have a talk with him since no one has actually helped him with his new status. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot but the kid could really use the help as I'm sure you understand. His family offers him no support so he's kind of alone in this apart from his new friends here._

_My plans are going well. I will not relay the information and stats in this letter since it could be intercepted. Suffice to say that they are above the level we expected._

_Please write back soon Remy,_

_Be safe and always strong,Harry_

_- - - _

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm doing quite well since I found away to remove that ghastly woman's portrait from the wall. It was actually surprisingly easy but I'll tell you about it when I see you next._

_I had heard about Andrew and was considering contacting him myself. I am pleased that you are looking out for the boy and that he has some friends. I would be happy to come talk with him. I am actually going to come to Hogwarts tomorrow evening to see you so expect me then. I will speak with you about my part in your plans (accentuate the 's') and would be happy to talk with both you and him at that stage. Please inform him I will be coming._

_Make sure you pay attention to your new DADA professor. I have heard about her and she knows what she's talking about. She was actually three years below me and your father in school. _

_Stay pure and always be prepared,Remus_

_- - - _

_To Mister Harry Potter,_

_Please be advised that your request for full emancipation and permission to use magic outside of Hogwarts and the town of Hogsmeade has been personally approved by Minister Fudge. The paperwork has been completed and simply needs you signature. Said paperwork is attached to this letter. The Ministry wishes you the best of luck in your studies and extends a full apology for the many interruptions in your schooling last year._

_Signed,_

_Olive Thornburton_

_Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, England._

_Harry,_

_I'm so sorry about all the mix ups last year. Please remember the Ministry and I support you and your dear Headmaster in the coming battles you will face against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. _

_Cornelius._

- - - - - - - - - -

Harry looked up from his two letters with a grin on his face. Ginny, sitting across from him raised an eyebrow in question.

"Remus is coming to visit tomorrow evening. Isn't it great Ginny?" He said, looking as ecstatic as Patrick when he found out that there was a spell to make the walls of his dorm room act as vertical trampolines.

"Yeah it's fantastic. Are you going to tell Andrew?" She replied, looking equally pleased but seeing the serious look in Harry's eyes, hidden by the grin on his face. Something important had been in the other letter.

"Yeah I'll tell him this evening. Who did he pair with for the search by the way?" Silencing charms were now an automatic for the two of them as their best planning was done over a meal.

"Hamish, Deans little brother with the dimples."

"Oh right. So you gave them the area between the Transfiguration classroom and the Charms room?"

"Of course."

"Sweet. By the way, I've just been emancipated from my guardians and given permission to use magic outside Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Minister Fudge has also apologized for his treatment of me last year. He is a useful person to have as Minister at the moment, bumbling fool that he is. Perhaps if we send a message to the Daily Profit telling of my approval of his change in attitude, saying something along the lines of it showing humility and grace? That could work." Harry mused

"I'll send it during my break from eleven this morning Harry. By the way, I've started talking to people in my dorm room about their thoughts saying I'm doing an open ended private survey. So far, they all think you are wonderful but include Dumbledore whenever they mention your beliefs. I'm going to talk to Luna later today. You may want to have a word with Neville. I know he's weak but he will be your replacement when you leave so you may wish to plant the seed of doubt soon." Ginny replied, pulling out a notepad.

"Sure Ginny, I'll do that. If you will excuse me, I need to go to the library before DADA to look up some information so I can ask our new teacher a question about one of those werewolf regulation patrols that have been started up by worried civilians. What do you think of her by the way?"

"The woman knows her stuff. Let's hope she's not connected to any side in this war or we may have to take her out before she can cause us any damage."

"Oh she seems intelligent but then you never know these days. See ya."

"Yeah see ya."

Harry made his way out of the hall and towards the library. He had just taken a short cut through a dusty tunnel he had discovered during the vacation when he felt someone grab him from behind and spin him against the wall. He cursed himself for being unprepared as an arm cut into his throat preventing struggle while a hand held his arms above his head. Opening his mouth to use what air was left in his lungs in a scream, he was cut off my a hiss from the person in front of him.

"Potter, I'm not going to hurt you but it is in your best interests to stay quiet. I know your plans and if you squeal for Dumbledore I'd be perfectly happy to share them." The person whispered sharply before loosening the pressure against Harry's neck.

"Malfoy," Harry said flatly "For someone who claims they don't want to hurt me, you are sure doing a good job of making me think you do."

"I'm not just going to free you Potter, I've watched you over the past few days. You've changed, but in a good way. You hold yourself with power and you seem to have lost all resemblance you previously bore to a clumsy klutz. If I let you go, you probably have the strength to deck me."

"Wow, a clumsy klutz, your insults have left me reeling Malfoy. I'm glad that you can admit to my superior abilities though. If I promise not to attack or leave, will you let me down?" Harry ground out

"Sure."

"Then I promise."

The blond immediately released his arms and jumped backwards with his hand on his wand, obviously not fully trusting the boy he'd just nabbed. Harry lowered his arms, rubbing his wrists. He surreptitiously slipped his wand into his palm out of its previous position in his sleeve.

"Bloody hell Malfoy, you scared the crap out of me!"

The other boy sighed.

"That was crude as usual Potter. I apologize for relieving you of your excrement. Please forgive me oh great one. I bow down in submission." He said, face poker strait.

"Bugger off. What is it you wanted again?" Harry snapped

"Look, please trust that I would not do this if I had any other options open to me. I hate that I have to choose this but, I wish to join your side during this war."

Harry turned to stare at the boy who had always despised him.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I wish to join your side… Harry Potter." Draco said looking resigned.

Harry glared at him suspiciously. While Harry no longer held the fact that the boy was a Slytherin against him, they did not exactly have the most pleasant history of interactions.

"Why?" He asked shortly.

"Because you are the only reasonable option. I would have joined the Dark Lord but, as you probably could figure out, I do not like to bow down to others and to submit to my fathers Lord would be to do just that in the highest degree. I cannot join Dumbledore for obvious reasons; number one being that I do not agree with his beliefs. The Ministry are all going to fall to one of you three, so that just leaves you. I can hardly see you requiring me to kiss your feet, or sacrifice my entire personality or beliefs, and I can hardly see you losing this war either. I have to join one side because I am too deeply involved to try to remain neutral." The blond actually appeared desperate. Harry supposed that he must be taking a lot of pressure from his fellow Slytherins to clearly lay out his loyalties.

Harry sighed. Why he had agreed to take this on he did not know. It was hard work having to trust or turn against someone with only seconds to decide.

"You have to show loyalty Malfoy, you cannot switch sides and you cannot turn against your fellows. You will have to play an active role and due to your position in your school house, you will be doing some recruiting as well." Harry said watching the other boy closely "Can you agree to these conditions and requirements?"

The blond nodded.

"I was expecting something along those lines, but Potter, I cannot bow to you. I will not submit."

"I know, and call me Harry." Harry replied with a faint smile, holding out his hand. The other boy took it and grinned.

"Okay… Harry. And you must call me Draco." He said.

"Draco. Draco, Draco, Draco. It's kind of fun to say you know. Hey, I made a rhyme!"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"What exactly have I gotten myself into?" He asked the ceiling and Harry gave a laugh.

"Oh trust me, you don't want to know."

The pair walked towards the library side by side. As they got closer, Draco turned to Harry with a grin.

"I hear you finally took my advice about the Weasel."

"Oh shut it. I hardly changed my opinion over what you said all those years ago."

"Well _fine_ then, see if I care."

"Oh but I already know you do."

- - - - - - - - - -

Harry gave a groan as he packed his bag and moved towards Professor Stynehope's desk. DADA had been gruelling to say the least, beginning with Professor Stynehope spouting off huge amounts of priceless information in a quick and casual manner that few picked up on immediately. Hermione appeared to be holding back tears once she'd realized how much information she'd missed while trying desperately to write down all she could of what their teacher was still adding. After this, Professor Stynehope had gone on to pin random students with on the spot questions before standing them all up and having them attempt to cast complex vampire warding charms on a small relic recovered from the ruins of Gal 'Thun, a vampire colony that had died out several centuries ago when they had tried to take over some neighbouring vampire, werewolf, and wizarding settlements. Should the wards succeed, the artefact would be repelled backwards to various distances, depending on the strength of the casting. Should it fail, it would not move, simple as that. Since their teacher had not mentioned the charm once in the last lesson and only stated its name and purpose now, it was no surprise that not a single student could successfully cast it. This did not stop their professor from being outraged and assigning a two and a half foot essay due the next day with instructions that none should fail at this charm when they tried it tomorrow.

When the lesson finished, Harry went over to Professor Stynehope's desk, watching her warily as she packed up a large stack of books that appeared to have been brought in for no reason since she had not once referred to them. The same had been the case last lesson, Harry realized.

"Um, excuse me Professor Stynehope?" He eased forward tentatively as he addressed her. Planning to take over the current government or not, he knew which battles he could fight and which to just give in to.

"Yes Mister Potter"

"Ah, last lesson you said that if we so chose, we could come to you for extra work and…"

"You, despite not being at all behind in class decided you would approach me to see if it was an open ended invitation that you could pick up any time. You also appear to have a few questions about Defence for me if the piece of paper in your hand is anything to go by. Ask away Mister Potter and when I have answered your questions I will decide if I wish to burden myself with the extra work it would require to look over what you do with the extension work." She cut in startling him a little.

"Alright, ah, first question; The new civilian organisation preventing anything werewolf related, what theories are they going by, what spells and tactics are they using, and how relevant is the data they are currently spreading to support the need for culls? If you can figure those out; how would one go about to disband the groups and what is keeping them together at the moment?" Harry rushed his questions out, hoping to have this over with _very_ quickly. She was a rather scary person to be alone with in a room. Smart, certainly not ugly, but scary.

"Those are interesting questions Mister Potter. The new organisation is working by the theories of Randolph the Robust, a rather idiotic warrior of the fifteen hundreds who, after being beaten by a werewolf not under the full moon, decided that all werewolves must be trained specifically to fight against humans. He began a sort of cult that made life _very_ difficult for werewolves at the time. The cult was forcibly disbanded by other civilians after it forced the werewolves to band together against humans. Once this had happened, the werewolves calmed back down and things went back to normal. This organisation is working with an updated version of Randolph's ideas. They are using any spell they think of when confronting werewolves but the most problematic one is _doraro_ a spell originally created for decorating that coats whatever it is aimed at with a thin layer of silver. Because it is so thin, it does not kill the werewolf instantly. It can take hours and is apparently dreadfully painful. The thing that makes this group such a problem both for werewolves and as a political organisation, is that they are not simply trying to cull werewolves, they are trying to induce fear before then, as such driving the werewolves underground and probably forcing them to band together again. This is the aspect the Ministry considers a problem as there are more than enough werewolves to create a sizeable military force. If this group goes much further, the Ministry will probably induce culls themselves, or at least tighter regulations.

No one is quite certain as to which political power these people are operating under. The options are the Dark Lord, the Ministry, Headmaster Dumbledore, or even you Mister Potter for as I am sure you know, you hold considerable political sway. It could also be an independent rogue group but that is not likely as they would probably target the vampires. The Dark Lord is out of the question for he is trying to ally himself with the werewolves and they are smart enough to realize if he organised this group simply to turn them against the Ministry or someone like that. You too are not under suspicion by me as you have come and asked me this, not to mention your connection with Mister Lupin, a known werewolf. So that leaves the two other political powers or a rogue group. Whichever it is, they are the ones keeping this group focused as most groups would have broken up via discord by now without someone pulling the strings. To disband the group, one would need to figure out its motivator and eliminate the benefits that could result from the group's existence. Does that answer you questions Mister Potter?"

"Yes, thankyou Professor Stynehope." Harry said, looking up from the parchment he had been scribbling this on which was naturally connected to the book.

"Good, then you make take these." She passed him the large stack of books "Read over whichever parts interest you most, practice any spells mentioned even if you don't think they are useful and write a summary of the parts you read. Come to me with what you have at the end of the lesson after next. I will correct any mistakes with your spell work and tell you if you have misinterpreted any information."

With that she breezed out of the classroom so that she could re-enter after the whole of her next class had arrived and seated themselves. Harry trailed after her, the books balanced precariously in his arms. He twisted his arm around to check his new watch and cursed. If he had to walk at this speed he would never reach the Charms classroom in time. He set off as fast as he could, not realizing as a palm sized book titled, _Locations of Famous and Infamous Magical Beast Attacks_ began to slide of the stack.

"Here let me help." Came a voice at his side suddenly and Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff girl in Harry's year grabbed the top three books off his pile.

As he turned to look at her, another four books were grabbed by Susan Bones from his other side. Harry frowned in confusion. He had barely spoken to these girls in five years and here they were helping him out for no apparent reason. Even some of his housemates had simply brushed past him as they hurried towards their own classes. The two girls grinned at him. Both blond with blue eyes, they were used to being over-looked and did not take offence to it.

"We're in your charms class." Hannah said as way of explanation "We saw you were struggling and didn't think you would get there on time so we thought we'd give you a hand."

"Er, thankyou very much ladies." Harry said with a slightly bemused smile.

"No problem Harry." Susan said with a sweet smile "We've seen how you look after our first years and we figured we could do you a favour in return on behalf of the Hufflepuff house."

Harry grinned at them both. They were both far cleverer then they let on if they had picked that up in just a few days. He made a mental note to keep a closer eye on them in future. As they entered the classroom just moments before the bell went, the two girls place the books back on Harry's stack and went to sit up the front of the classroom. Smiling slightly, Harry went to sit in the only free seat which was unfortunately between Ron and Hermione who were both in this class. His smile soon vanished as Ron glared at him.

"Harry, why were you flirting with them? Your dating my sister remember?" He whispered in an angry voice as Professor Flitwick began calling the roll.

Harry blinked as he thought over his interactions with the two blonds, trying to figure out how Ron could have gotten that idea.

"Ron I'm not sure I understand you. They helped me carry my books since with the speed I had to walk at while carrying all of them would have meant I'd be late for class."

"Harry, you should have just told them you were fine." Hermione commented in her exasperated voice "By accepting their help, you've made it seem like at bare minimum you'd like to be friends with them. You don't want Ginny to get jealous do you? _Present, Professor Flitwick!_"

"Hermione, I don't think I'd have a problem with being friends with them, they are both really nice girls, Hufflepuffs or not." Here both Ron and Hermione drew in a breath "Besides, Ginny and I both trust each other so I don't think she would have a problem with me talking to my year mates."

"Oh Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head sadly "You just don't understand much do you? Ron's the same so don't worry. Ginny will see this as-"

"_Present, Professor Flitwick!_" Harry interrupted her and then returned his attention to her with a motion to continue.

"As I was _saying_ Harry," She ground out quietly which Harry thought was a bit rude since he had not exactly been in a position to ignore his professor. "Ginny will see this as you keeping options open in case things don't work out and that will get her upset."

"Yeah Harry, what are you planning to break up with her or something?" Ron angrily added to the conversation slightly too loudly, drawing Professor Flitwick's attention.

"Five points from Gryffindor Mister Weasley." The pint sized professor squeaked out "Please continue this conversation in your own time."

Across the room, Harry saw Draco grin at him and winked back in reply.

"I wouldn't break up with her guys, I love her. Please have a little faith that I may not be wooing every girl I talk to." He whispered to his two companions who looked slightly guilty.

They did not apologize however, instead turning to face the front of the classroom to offer Professor Flitwick their full attention. Harry rolled his eyes and pulled out a scroll of parchment and a self inking quill. He made enough notes that lesson to last a year, at least in Ron's opinion, in Hermione's Harry was trying to show off so that she wouldn't think to check he wasn't copying her work that evening. Harry proceeded to inform her that he would not require her assistance as he was perfectly capable of writing an essay and anyway, he had promised to help Tilly and the other first years with their first pieces of work so he would be doing his own work at a different time to her as it was. She immediately offered to help him work with them. He declined the offer, stating that the first years were a little nervous of the prefects since they had been rather bossy on the first night. She then proceeded to sulk all the way to Transfiguration.

On the way there, Harry passed Ginny on her way to the owlery. She offered him a grin and then, seeing Hermione, blew him a kiss and proceeded to watch his arse as he made his way down the corridor. Harry rolled his eyes at her antics but smiled anyway. As he and his bushy haired companion made their way into the Transfiguration classroom, Hermione went to sit with Lavender and Parvati who proceeded to ignore her for the remaining minutes before class began. Harry went up the back of the classroom and sat down in the centre of a bench, being sure to save a seat on either side of him, knowing of two people who would wish to sit there. Sure enough, moments later Dean walked in and immediately passed by Seamus and Neville with only a smile to go sit beside Harry. Just as the other Gryffindor had seated himself, Draco walked in and with a nod to the already seated Slytherins and a dismissive gesture to Goyle, who had somehow made it into the class, headed over to where Harry was.

Al conversation between the other students ceased as Draco Malfoy calmly sat down next to Harry Potter. Everyone was waiting to see what Harry would do. Not wishing to disappoint, Harry made a great show of greeting the other boy by his first name and asking how he had been. Draco said he had been well and as if on queue, the other Slytherins all nodded to themselves and went back to their own conversations, some calmly making eye contact with Harry before doing so, others simply ignoring the Gryffindor. Their leader had made a decision, now they would simply wait until later to hear his explanation and then make their own choices.

The other students continued to stare as Harry introduced Dean officially to Draco. The two boys shook hands across Harry and the three began a discussion about the new keeper for the Chinese team in the Quidditch world cup. The five Ravenclaws in the class all turned back to their books, bored of the temporary phenomenon. The Gryffindors and several Hufflepuffs looked wary until Sally-Anne Perks finally yelled;

"Okay so their talking, what's the big deal? They grew up finally, just be happy that they are not blowing things up around you!"

The other students, startled out of their staring game all became slightly embarrassed as the Slytherins sniggered at them. They quickly started up conversations in hushed tones, glancing in the three boys' direction every now and then. Soon Professor McGonagall walked briskly into the classroom from the side door that connected to her office and all conversation ceased instantly. The lesson was dull but informative and all students left with several pages of notes and a three foot essay due on Friday.

"Harry, I have to go offer an explanation to my housemates." Draco apologized as the three headed out for their two hour break.

"It's alright Draco, Dean and I will be in the library if you need us. For the meeting tonight, remember you can bring people who are interested but make sure you don't tell them in advance because while I can do memory spells at the meeting, I can't prevent anyone from blabbing before the event." Harry replied

"Well duh, Harry." Draco said with yet another eye roll which appeared to be a sixth year trend for all houses.

"Have fun storming the castle boys." Dean said as he walked ahead so as to have a quick word to Seamus.

Draco blinked twice.

"Huh?"

"A Muggle quote from a classic motion picture known as The Princess Bride." Harry explained.

"Why is he quoting a Muggle saying?" Draco asked

(Queue eye roll) "Because he's Muggleborn Dray," Harry said in a patronising tone "I don't have a problem with such people considering my mother was one."

"No need to get testy Potter I was just asking and… did you just call me _Dray_?" Draco looked stunned.

"Yes _Dray_, it's called a nickname. It's where friends call each other by something that is either a derivative of the original name, or describes a characteristic of the person." Harry explained (more patronizing and eye rolling).

"Gee thanks for the explanation Harry, I never would have figured that one out without your help."

"You couldn't? Wow, are you sure you're up for sixth year studies Draco?"

"Potter, you are a one person circus act you know that?"

"Alas, alack, you fail to see; How deeply thou hast wounded me!" Harry cried out dramatically laying one hand over his heart.

"Shakespeare hates your poems Harry." Dean commented as he slowed so they could catch up.

"Shakespeare can suck a big one."

"Probably not; he's dead. But his hatred lives on."

"I said some poems, apparently shit,

People had had enough of it.

When they actually told me this,

I wept, I wailed, I slashed my wrists."

"Shakespeare liked that one better."

"William Shakespeare is a twat."

"True. Oh so true." Dean finished as Draco shook his head in confusion.

"I'm going back to the dungeons. See you in Herbology Dean." The blond called as he jogged in the direction of his common room.

"So Harry, why are we going to the library?"

- - - - - - - - - -

"PATRICK!"

"Hi Hermione. How are you?" Patrick asked sweetly, turning to look at his sister as he spoke.

He took a nervous step backward as he saw the look on her face.

"You little monster," She hissed "That was a collectors edition that you destroyed. Do you realize how much that cost me?"

"Er… no?"

"Eight Galleons and fifteen Sickles! That's how much it cost me Patrick and I expect it to be paid back in full." She yelled, arms flailing about wildly as Patrick reached behind him to jiggle the door nob. Just as Hermione got a little too close for comfort, Peeves came in yelling something about stink bombs, causing her to shriek and duck down, leaving Patrick open to turn around to work on the door.

"But I only have twenty Knuts." Patrick said as he finally got the handle to start turning "Look, how about we discuss this later okay? I have a HFH meeting." And with that he yanked the door open and sprinted into the hallway there and off towards their secret 'under the staircase' meeting area.

"GET BACK HERE PATRICK!" Hermione screamed.

Realizing she would never catch him, she leant back against the door and scowled. Suddenly a look of confusion came over her face.

"What the hell doe HFH stand for?"

- -

"Sorry I'm late everybody but my sister cornered me. It's quite a story actually, I was quite fearful for my life."

"Good Patrick, you can tell us later." Hamish interrupted him before he could begin his rant "Now to business, have we all started plotting the areas we were designated?"

There was a chorus of yeses and Hamish looked pleased.

"Andrew and I have plotted our whole portion on the map. Would you believe there was a little room through a trap door under the rug on the floor in the corridor to the left of the charms classroom? We had a look and it's fully furnished with a few sofas and a table and some empty book cases. Some torches lit up as we entered as well."

"Ah also," Andrew murmured so quietly they almost didn't here him "The seats were dusty, meaning no one has sat in them for a while and there was a slight his of dust burning as the torches lit. From my experience in exploration, that means the rooms been empty for at least six months and as much as four years. Any more and the dust would have prevented them from lighting."

"Thanks Andrew, that's great that you picked up on that up. Now has anyone else found anything?"

"Not really," Georgina started up on behalf of herself and Leonia "Except that we found a short cut from the back corner of the library to just outside the DADA classroom but I think it's been put to regular use."

"Okay, Joseph what about you and Patrick?" Hamish asked, still holding the group together.

"Well, we only had four passageways leaving off of the second floor north wing corridor. We had a look and they just connect up to the main stairwell, the Astrology tower, the large area between Transfiguration and Charms which you were looking at, and one that leads to a spare set of chambers for visitors to Hogwarts. There were some interesting portraits though. While they didn't guard any entrances, they did feature some interesting historical figures. We are going back to talk to them later today."

"_A lone puffer went riding out one dark and windy day_"

"Okay, that about sums that up I think, now let's pack up before Johnny Cash here blows our cover."

"_Upon a desk he rested as he went along his way_

"Yeah, remember to talk to people to see if you should bring them to tonight's meetings guys." Leonia spoke up.

"He_ met some friendly Gryffindors and worked to join their side, _

_But was cornered by his big sister… now hear his lonesome cry"_

"Oh the humanity, a parody! Kill me now Joseph." Hamish cried out, burying his face on Andrews shoulder while forcing Joseph's wand into the Latino boy's hand.

"_Sisters with wands_

_Sisters with wands_

_Poltergeists in the sky"_

"Noooooo!" Hamish sobbed in despair.

"_Her face was scrunched, her eyes they burned, her fury was quite clear_

_She was the worker of such spells that any man would fear._

_A bolt of fear went through him as she thundered down the halls,_

_For he knew not Peeves was coming fast… now here his lonesome calls."_

Georgina, picking up what she now knew was a chorus joined him here for three lines.

"_Sisters with wands_

_Sisters with wands_

_Poltergeists in the sky"_

From no where, Patrick pulled out an electric torch that apparently had managed to trick Hogwarts into thinking it was 'magical' for he switched it on and held it under his chin, lighting up his face as Hamish's sobs grew to wails.

"_The puffer he was fearful but he bravely held his ground_

_For the door it wouldn't open and some help was not around._

_But just when he was panicking, a saviour he did spy_

_In the shape of Peeves the Poltergeist… now hear his lonesome cry_"

Everyone knew the chorus now and all but Hamish sang it while Joseph pocketed his wand and Andrew rubbed circles on Hamish's back.

"_Sisters with wands_

_Sisters with wands_

_Poltergeists in the sky_"

Hamish was calming now and sat up to listen to the final verse.

"_As the puffer fled on down the halls without a backwards glance_

_He heard his sister shout his name while perfecting her stance._

_But he had left her far behind, running faster then time flies_

_While the friendly poltergeist did watch… now hear his lonesome cries._"

Hamish finally surrendered to the masses and joined his fellows in the final chorus.

"_Sisters with wands_

_Sisters with wands_

_Poltergeists in the sky._

_Sisters with wands_

_Sisters with wands_

_Poltergeists in the skyyyyyyyyyyyy._"

- - - - -

New rules: You cannot vote for a pairing without also telling me what you thought of the chapter.

Disclaimer: Ghost Riders in the Sky was by Johnny Cash.

Did y'all realize what I was doing with this chapter?

REVIEEEEEEEEEEW! Current count is 25 which is awesome because it's twelve more than last time which is almost double. OMG I just figured out how to do a profile message. I'm going to write one.


	6. La Cartera

**Authors Note (rant):** I would like to begin with a little talk about the word "interesting". Do you realize how annoying it is to be given a review with the only description of your work being the word "interesting"? Argh! Each time I have to sit there and think to myself "Hmm, do they mean interesting as in 'Interesting the way you have made the story the bestest story in the freaking universe' or 'Interesting… I'm going to back away slowly now' or 'Interesting enough that I'm handing in a token review' or my favorite one 'Interesting how that made me want to throw up my own liver'?" It is mighty exasperating people (but I still love you for reviewing)! Second thing; if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Or at least have the courage to say it in a review where anyone can read it rather then sending a mean **PM**. Next person to do that will find their message pinned up in my Authors Notes along with their penname so that I can share my opinion of the message and invite others to do the same. Okay that is my rant for today. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, sent nice PM's, added me to favorites, added me to a C2, etc. Here are the polls so far:

**Harry/Dean- 5**

**Harry/Daphne- 5**

**Harry/Susan- 5**

**Harry/Draco- 4**

**Harry/Hannah- 4**

**Harry/Severus- 3**

**Harry/Neville- 2**

**Harry/Remus- 2**

**No Pairing- 2**

**Harry/Seamus- 1**

**Harry/Luna- 1**

**Harry/Lavender- 1**

**Harry/Parvati- 1**

**Harry/Sally-Anne- 1**

**Harry/Hestia- 1**

At it stands there is a 3way tie (yeah, I'm assuming you can't figure that out for yourselves). I still think Harry/Dean would be fun to write so I won't go into details about that one. Susan would be a simple yet easily unique pairing option so I feel I could work with that. She would not be my first choice though because I kind of lumped her in with Hannah in the last chapter so she seems like a background character to me but I could change that. Now, on to Daphne; this would be a challenge. The most obvious problem being I don't even remember where she showed up in the books. I know she is a Slytherin but not what year she's in. I gave her a younger sister simply because I thought I could use her occasionally but without even showing up she appears to have taken on a life of her own. I would be happy to write this pairing because I could create her personality myself and mold it into anything I saw fit. However, if you want this pairing and you don't wish to wait around while I read though all six books looking for references, please give me some information about when and where she showed up and how you picture her. I will give her a minor part in this chapter though just so that I have a model for the idea of this pairing.

As a note to the person who suggested **HPLV**, sorry but there was the only one of you and it wasn't already on the list. I also do not feel I could make it work in this story but maybe when I finish Replay I will do a HPLV story. To the person who suggested **HPDMDT**, I will do that if they tie but otherwise, no. Oh and another thing, **PATRICK** will not always have a song but they will pop up quite often so sorry for those of you who do not like them. I include them because it's fun to watch my sister laugh while she reads them. Please remember that you can only **VOTE** for your pairing choice once between each update so no doubling up and I can tell if you do it anonymously. Last message is to those people who have specifically said they really want or really don't want **SLASH**; please be more specific as I can't just add or take off a point from all the HarryMale pairings. I am very sorry to hear that some of you will stop reading if a slash pairing pulls through since I was kind of hoping that you would be enjoying my story enough to just keep reading it no matter what pairing it had. This was however one of the reasons for the poll system so that as many people as possible would be happy with the pairing. If you wish to be PMed if I am certain it will be a slash pairing just tell me so in your next review.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling. She dresses him in leather and shows him off at parties. She keeps him chained in her bedroom closet and feeds him strawberry shortcake. She keeps him clean though; sponge baths are always fun. She loans him to her friends and lets them pick out his outfits each day.

**Chapter 6**

"Never argue with a fool. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."

4th September (I keep forgetting what day it is so this is now here to remind me)

"Okay Dean, start sorting through. We're looking for anything to do with successful political takeovers in the past. I don't care if it's a vampire thing, or the Garden Gnome society of Britain, just find anything that worked."

Harry and Dean were sitting opposite each other at one of the work tables in the library, the pile of Professor Stynehope's books sitting between them. Harry had informed Dean of his decision to do the work but realized that he could not search through all of them for information relevant to their plans at the same time and still view every book so he was working on finding historical attacks and their strategies while Dean looked for takeovers. Dean's findings would not be handed back to the teacher lest she have proof of Harry's ideas, or at least enough proof to talk to Dumbledore about it. The pair set to work, occasionally sharing random tidbits of information they discovered.

"Here's one guy Pulvin the Plunderer who took over the whole wizarding community of what is now Wales in 1203." Dean commented at one point "After doing so he settled down to spend what time he had left in what was called the Cavern of Columns which was basically a huge cave filled with four hundred pillars that Pulin had specially built to house himself and his men. What they did with all those pillars; history does not relate."

"Perhaps they played a lot of hide and seek." Harry commented dryly. "In 1846 in Australia, the only _recorded_ attack of a bunyip occurred when one got so pissed off with some new settlers in its area that it stole every item of clothing they owned. It then gave all the garments to the Indigenous Australians who had been forced out of the area. They however were so startled by the sight of one of the legendary bunyips of the Dreamtime staggering towards them with a pile of washing balanced on his arms and head with a pair of trousers dangling off of it's ear, that they fled the area and only returned ten years later with piles and piles of clothes to sell to the new settlers who were now known to purchase any fabric item they could just in case the bunyip did return so they would not be forced to repeat the events of the past. They had been forced to walk and ride naked back to the nearest permanent settlement to beg for clothing."

"How's the recruiting going Harry?" Dean finally asked after fifteen minutes of silence broken only by pages turning. Harry sighed and stopped the timer on his watch he'd been using to measure how long he could go uninterrupted.

"Alright, I'm relying on some of the people we already have to do a large chunk of the work for me. Now that we have Draco we should get quite a few since he has most of Slytherin hanging off of his every word so expect a large portion of that house to show up tonight." Harry informed Dean

"Okay then…" Dean replied pleased to have received more than a brush off, "So how is he going to convince them that he made the right choice? Several of them have been born and bred to support Voldemort."

Harry opened his mouth to respond but then paused and frowned in confusion.

"I'm not actually sure."

- - - - - - - - - -

"What the hell Malfoy? How and why did you end up as _Potter's_ best buddy?" Blaise Zabini was looking fairly put out with his fellow Slytherin. Well, more than fairly. In truth he was absolutely infuriated with the blond. **1.**

"Zabini, you are in my personal space and I would appreciate it if you would shift back just a tad. Thank-you." Draco stretched where he stood and glanced around at his fellow housemates.

Despite their calm appearance in Transfiguration, most were displaying quite strong emotions now that they were back in the privacy of their own common room. Merlin knows why Slytherin had chosen to place his students down here like rats or prisoners but he had and now all Slytherins were stuck with this cold, dank, hole as their own personal home-away-from-home.

Several of his fellows looked to be completely enraged, some were looking confused, some were watching him in amusement with understanding looks on their faces, some looked open but wary, and one was sleeping. For some reason Theodore Nott was asleep in the corner. No one was quite sure how but the Granger girl had been so upset on her way out of the Transfiguration classroom that she had automatically thrown out a spell that had hit the poor lad as he made his way through the halls. The other Slytherins had naturally carried him back as there was no way to know what some nasty Gryffindor might do to him if they saw him lying there.

Draco took a deep breath and began his explanation.

"Earlier this summer, Harry Potter was taken from his family's house if Surrey and brought to Hogwarts on Dumbledore's orders. No one is quite sure why but it is probably because, according to my father, the Dark Lord had gotten wind of his whereabouts. This would not change anything except that somehow, right under Dumbledore's nose, Harry Potter changed into our _esteemed_ headmaster's worst nightmare. He has grown up and realized the power he holds in this war, physically, politically, mentally, and magically. As such, by the time he stepped off of the Hogwarts Express with the rest of us, he had already recruited most first years. He has since grabbed several middle and upper year students from assorted houses and had them completely loyal to him in less than three days. He will _be_ one of the main powers in this war; he will not become Dumbledore's weapon again. He is not a dictator or a manipulator or a bumbling fool and thus, the only realistic option. I am telling you this because the Slytherin code prevents any conversation from this common room being reported anywhere else. If you do not wish to consider our Mister Potter, there will be no hard feelings. If you do, let me know." With that the blond Slytherin swept out of the common room, leaving a startled audience behind him.

While most of the house instantly fell into discussion, two people quietly made their way out of the common room being careful to keep to the shadows as they moved in unplanned synchronization.

Draco was already half way down the corridor when he first heard the soft treads coming from behind him. He kept moving but glanced into the slightly reflective glass of a nearby portrait as he rounded a corner and almost faltered as he recognized the supposedly comatose Theodore Nott, and the usually disregarded Daphne Greengrass. Draco changed his course slightly, heading towards a small lockable passageway he knew to be only a few turns away. As he entered it, he locked to door at the other end and slipped between two pillars. His two stalkers slipped discretely through the door with a step so hushed Draco could not help but admire them. With a flick of his wand, the door slammed shut and bolted itself causing the two to jump and spin around, looking for the source of the spell. Draco smirked as their eyes widened when they noticed him. He stepped forward into the dim light.

"Start talking."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Mister Potter, Mister Potter… wait up a minute!"

Harry turned to see Tillie Rollin, Eleanor Greengrass and another first year Gryffindor by the name of Amanda Hodgkin running towards him across the Library just as he was leaving with Dean.

"This is Mandy," Tillie said "We were wondering if you would go over some work with us and Eleanor now before the next class because you said you'd help me later so I figured maybe we could do it now and help these two as well?"

Harry turned to Dean.

"You head off to lunch and I'll meet you there in half an hour." He informed the other boy who grinned at him.

"Sure Professor Harry." He sang out in a singsong tone.

"Piss off Mister Thomas." Harry said in his lordly voice getting a grin out of the three first years "Now ladies, shall we seat ourselves around yonder table?" The three girls and Harry all skipped over to the table, drawing strange looks out of the other studiers "I am pleased to see that you three are getting on. By now most first years have formed prejudices against the other houses and will not associate."

"Well, you convinced me to give Eleanor a try Mister Potter so I didn't really pay much attention to the blustering of the other Gryffindors which kind of made the other first years start to dislike me a little since last night in the dorm and today's classes." Tillie began, apparently the designated talker of the group "Mandy wasn't very popular because her three older brothers are in Slytherin so I kind of started to talk to her and mentioned that you had agreed to help me today. We sat with Eleanor because while the other Slytherins still like her, they have all paired off and she is the odd one out so we brought her along with us to find you."

Harry glanced at them all as they stared up at him with something akin to adoration on their faces. These three girls with only minor prodding on his behalf had managed to overthrow years of tradition in a few mere hours. Harry knew from experience how firm friendships could become after only one conversation. Look at how long he had stuck with Ron for example or how well he now got along with Dean.

"Girls it is fantastic that you are such good friend but Tillie and Mandy, remember not to separate yourselves from the other students too much-"

"Ah, Mister Potter, Mandy knows. She heard the prefect Ginny talk on the train and has figured it out from what me and Eleanor were saying. I swear I didn't tell her directly but it's okay because she likes you too and she wants to join you. Mandy is really nice Mister Potter, so can she please come to the meeting tonight if we promise to talk to the other Gryffindors when we get the chance? I'd be really grateful Mister Potter and I promise-"

"Tillie it's alright of course she can come. Now, what was it you wanted to go over?"

"Well we have to do this silly swishing thing in charms that just seems pointless but Professor Flitwick says it's really important that we learn it."

- -

"Hey guys did you save me anything?" Harry asked as he sat down opposite Dean and next to Ginny who pushed a full plate towards him without looking up from the notes she now had spread in front of her. "Thanks Ginny, you're the best fake girlfriend a boy could ever have."

"How did you know she'd cast a silencing spell?" Dean questioned.

"She'd be a fool not to since I've made a habit of speaking rather loudly about important issues in public just to keep her on her toes." Harry said, digging in to his lasagna.

"How was you teaching gig Harry?" Ginny asked, looking up momentarily.

"Pretty darn sweet, I have my own fan club as it turns out. Apparently _you_ started it in your second year." Harry chirped brightly with a grin towards Ginny who went bright red.

"You were nicer then." She dismissed it with a shrug but buried her nose in her books at the same time.

"Are you saying I'm not a nice person Ginny? I'm hurt. How could you even think such a thing? I mean, sure I'm plotting the eventual deaths of some of your family members, recruiting eleven year olds to do my dirty work, and preparing a head quarters to house a massive army but I mean, who hasn't done all of those things at one stage or another?"

"Harry man, you have some serious issues. You know that right?" Dean commented, staring at the boy who simply grinned at him and winked.

"I have to get to class now boys so have fun." Ginny said as she rose to her feet, sweeping up her bundle of books and papers as she went.

"What have you done with those books Professor Stynehope gave you Harry?" Dean asked realizing that as he entered the boy had been walking conspicuously upright as compared to his earlier gait.

"Tillie and Mandy had a free line so I told them which one was my bed and asked them to drop them off. It's times like these when minions come in handy."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I try to take over the world."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Howdy peoples! How are we all doing tonight?"

Daphne leaned across Theodore to whisper to Draco.

"_This_ is the guy who'll win the war?" She asked skeptically.

It was once again five thirty in the evening and, once again Harry's minions were sitting around in the Room of Requirement but this time they had brought visitors. Ginny once again did a role call **2.**

"Fred Weasley… George Weasley… Dean Thomas… Draco Malfoy… Harry _duh_… Colin Creevey… Dennis Creevey… Natalie McDonald… Eleanor Greengrass… Jack Castor… Troy Castor… Alicia Wilforth… Penelope Footswitch… Hamish Thomas… Leonia Blankov… Joseph Tumwater-Crescent… Georgina Clapmatch… Andrew Forester… Tillie Rollin… Amanda Hopkins… Patrick Granger."

"PRESENT!"

"Thank you Patrick for screaming that one out."

As Ginny was reading out names, Harry was looking out at all of the newer arrivals, only two of whom (Draco and Mandy) were certain followers. He noticed that every first year from every house were now present; the Gryffindors and Slytherins looking _very_ skeptical. Eleanor, Mandy and Tillie must have done some incredibly smooth talking to even get them to show up after hearing their elder housemates chatter. The other three Hufflepuff first years Irene Full, Rosanne Willard, and Ramona Dewitt were also present, though apparently not talking to the other six for one reason or another. There was a couple of second year Ravenclaws who Harry identified as Victoria Gospel and Bae Soo who were sitting behind Alicia Wilforth and her friend Tonino Mantoci, another first year. Three second year Slytherins were sitting together in a corner murmuring and, from the opposite side, Dennis, Natalie, and seven other third years from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Orla Quirke the only Ravenclaw for that year glared daggers at the closest Slytherins available to their age group since no third years had ventured out of the dungeons as of yet. There was only one fourth year; this one from Hufflepuff was Georgina's older brother Markus. There were not many additional senior students, only the two Slytherins Theodore and Daphne, along with Luna who had been brought along by Ginny after a rather unique conversation in Potions. Harry frowned slightly as his eyes settled on the glowering third years and the now rather nervous twelve year old representatives of the snake house. Something would have to be done about that.

"First things first," Harry started out "Can I have the first years maps please… just pass them to Ginny. Two fresh ones will be handed out to a representative from every houses newbies, these ones just mark important routes since I don't need anything else explored right now. Yes Patrick I know you enjoyed it but I really don't need anything else from you right now thank you anyway. I will begin by a simple show of hands. Hands up if you think Dumbledore is a fairly nice guy who pretty much goes by what is right for us."

Most non-regulars who were not Slytherin raised their hands.

"Okay then, keep them up if you can look back and tell me exactly what lead you to that decision."

Here most students appeared to look bored and wave their hand higher before pausing and looking thoughtful before slowly lowering their hands. One or two Gryffindors kept them strait up in the air before their friends whispered something to them and they lowered their hands instantly.

"Alrighty then. Everyone, including those of you who did not originally raise your hand or were here yesterday, put your hand up if you can, off the top of your head remember someone in this room telling you how great a man Dumbledore is." Harry smiled slightly as every hand in the room, including all the first years went up "A bit of an eye opener really isn't it. We have all vouched for this man but none of us are absolutely sure why. I had a bit of a think about it during my vacation and I came up with a few reasons why I personally felt he was the man of the hour. Firstly, because it was because of him that I was supposedly 'rescued' from my darling family, regardless of the fact that he left me there in the first place." Here, Dean scowled from across the room, drawing a curious glance from Ginny as he remembered his late night conversation with Harry, "Secondly, because everyone I soon knew in this school who wasn't busy insulting me," Draco did another eye roll, "Was telling me how absolutely wonderful he was, never once questioning that they had no proof of this and indeed I soon began endorsing him myself. And thirdly, because regardless of the fact that I hardly ever saw him, although probably a great deal more than some of you have seen him due to the circumstances surrounding my life, anyway, regardless of the fact that I hardly ever saw him, every time I did and made eye contact, I felt as though I had a special connection with the man, like he understood my problems and would make them all go away." Many of the senior non-Slytherins glanced around them with slightly angered looks on their faces as they began to realize how often they had felt this and how little the man actually did for his beloved students.

"Many of you" Harry continued "Will by now be realizing how easily you have been fooled by this man and will be slightly angered by the fact, but without a goal in mind, this anger will simply willow away as you slowly justify it inside you. Thus, I have begun my plans as I was unwilling to let go of my righteous anger, instead channeling it productively. I realize the strength I hold and I realize how much more I can unlock from within me. I wish to create a new ideology, untainted by years of variation. I wish to bring this to life in a way that most benefits the wizarding society. To do this, I do not need blind soldiers, I need productive and interacting individuals to assist me and show me loyalty without impeding devotion. I need you, as the youth of today to share your ideas and your own plans and let me work with them to bring it to a reality."

Harry paused for a minute and looked out at them all. It was completely silent until Daphne Greengrass again turned to Draco and said loud enough for them all to hear;

"Draco, I take back my earlier skepticism. Your Mister Potter truly knows his stuff."

"Told you so."

"Shut it Malfoy."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The meeting that day had, in Harry's opinion, been relatively successful but at the same time incredibly tiring. He was now half walking, half stumbling down the corridors back to the Gryffindor tower. He leant gently against the wall for a minute as he though back over what had happened. It was then that he heard a voice that every physically and mentally exhausted Hogwarts student had come to dread.

"HI HARRY POTTER!"

"Hello Patrick did you enjoy the meeting?" Harry asked tiredly though with a grin as he imagined all the stress this bouncing pile of energy must have caused his sister in the past.

"Yeah it was like sooooo cool the way you made everyone like listen to you and like you and then everyone sided like with you and you were like, great thank you all, and then you gave the older ones books cause your like generous and it was like awesome."

"Patrick," Harry said with some confusion "When exactly did you become one of the many misguided members of the pre-teen culture and as such an addict of the word _like_?"

"… huh?" was Patrick's eloquent reply.

"Well you see Patrick, pre-teen culture is modeled very closely of passing fads and a misrepresented interpretation of what actual teenagers behave like. It tends to change quickly and is in almost a constant flux. Marketing teams have noted this as it is very hard to capture the teen and pre-teen -or 'tween' as it is called- markets. As such, they instead try to enforce the trends so as to capture the culture for a short period before it moves on. The word _like_ was introduce through media and teen icons and as such has stayed around. Now what I am trying to figure out is how all of a sudden, in a school that is completely isolated from popular Muggle culture, you have picked up and overused a phrase that you probably never bothered with before. I would understand if it was cultural use as the phrase itself has become ingrained in our vocabulary but that was _way_ to staged up to have been natural."

"… huh?"

Harry sighed.

"Never mind Patrick, it wasn't important."

"Okay then. I like pie, did you know that Harry? Do you like pie?"

"Depends what flavor."

"Okay. Do I sing really badly Harry because Leonia or Hamish always gets really upset if I sing." Patrick asked looking a little saddened.

"Ah," For once Harry seemed to be at a loss for words, "I don't think I've heard you sing Patrick but if you give me an example I'm sure I could tell you if you sound okay."

"Alrighty then." Patrick cleared his throat.

"_The schoooool is aliiiive, with the sound of muuuuusiiiic._"

"Forget I asked." Harry muttered plugging his ears as the other boy wailed at the top of his lungs.

"_With songs I have sung, for a couple of daaaaays._

_I've filled Harry's ears, with the sound of muuuuusiiic_

_And he doesn't even know how well, it paaaaays._"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Harry paused the boy, "Someone's _paying_ you to do this?"

Patrick nodded enthusiastically, thankfully forgetting to continue his song.

"Yeah this ghost thing that said he was called Peeves said that if I sung at least once an hour during the daylight hours he would give me four of those chocco frog thingies. Isn't that cool?"

"I am going to have to have a word with Peeves about handing his dirty work over to _my_ minions." Harry growled looking seriously pissed off.

His energy returning to him, Harry stormed off down the hall with yet another plan in mind. Find Peeves, get something in return for lending Patrick's… ah, let's call them talents for now… before getting to the Great Hall in time for dinner. As he turned a corner, the hall behind him filled up with music as Patrick burst into song once more.

"_My songs have a beat and a melody that spread from the lake to the trees (to the trees)…_"

- - - - - - - - - -

Alright so it's a short chapter. I don't _always_ have to do long ones. The Patrick thing at the end was kind of lame I know but I was tired and just wanted to get this thing up. Maybe the lil' tyke will have a bigger role next time. Lol, here's a thought, can you imagine being Patrick's baby-sitter when he was growing up? Don't worry I have not forgotten about Replay, I'm just trying to convince my muse to come back from Aruba. Can you believe the stupid thing wants royalties? Anyways, please review and leave a pairing opinion and what you thought of the chapter. Remember I won't count votes that are not accompanied by some feedback.

Current review count: 43 (5-4-5-11-and 18 for chapter 5).

**1. **Remember that Andrew was a Zabini before he was turned.

**2. **Written in here because it's how I keep track of who is siding with Harry for certain. I've also included a huge paragraph consisting only of names and house listings since I needed somewhere to write it so that I can always have someone to put in a line here or there.


	7. El Watusi

**Authors Note:** Okilydokily neighborinoes… this is Chapter 7 of the story known as Abandon Ship. It is also the official place where I say thank-you to all my fabulous reviewers. Even those of you who have only reviewed so that you don't get stuck with a pairing you hate because even that counts as something. On another note; I SCREWED UP! In the last chapter, Andrew was supposed to be informed by Harry that Remus would be arriving the following evening. Sorry! Now, I have nowhere to fit that in so you will all have to assume that Harry told him at the end of the meeting before he went walkabouts and was talking to Patrick. Just picture a kind almost fatherly Harry, a shocked but grateful Andrew, a few discrete tears in the younger boy's eyes… yeah that's pretty much all there would have been. BTW, I just realized that Harry is yet to have a Potions class. Guess I forgot. I'm actually a little surprised none of my reviewers pulled me up on it since a lot of you are really nitpicky (don't worry, as a ff writer I find that to be a good thing). Lastly, this note is to all those with the opportunity to go se Equus when it begins. You lucky things! Take notes… and pictures. So (cough, cough) on with pairing poll thingies.

Harry/Dean- 12

Harry/Daphne- 12

Harry/Draco- 10

Harry/Susan- 9

Harry/Hannah- 6

Harry/Remus- 5

Harry/Severus- 4

Harry/Neville- 4

No Pairing- 4

Harry/Sirius- 2

Okay… in case you didn't notice, the list has decreased since I knocked off everyone who had stopped receiving votes entirely. You may also have noticed that Sirius is now on the list since I was asked _really nicely_ and I've always been a sucker for puppy dog eyes. A friend who reads my stories then liked the idea as well so he now has two votes. If no other votes are added to him, he will transform himself into Remus since that was his original benefactor's second choice (i.e. Remus gets an extra vote).

OH MY GOD we have a tie! Isn't this intense people? Are you not chewing your nails? I have no problem with doing either of these pairings (or any other pairing still on the list), but if he ends up with Daphne I will need some information about her since all I know at this moment is that she is Slytherin and a fifth year. Did you know that when I checked, I only found 3 Harry/Dean pairings and one was in German or something? I thought there were more but some turned out to be crossovers with some Baron dude I've never heard of. As far as I can see, there are only four options that really stand a chance for this story unless some people band together and do some serious voting. As it is, I have used this chapter to set it up for either of the two leading pairings to suddenly come into play, while still leaving it open for change. Hopefully I have succeeded.

This is just a note to those persons who will stop reading if it becomes slash; please don't. I appreciate the fact that you read my story and would like it to continue. I do not foresee _any_ relationship Harry gets into becoming the focal point of the story or having _too_ much of an affect on the plot. It would be a side thing that is around to keep him from getting lonesome. I can hardly see myself writing lemons any time soon so that shouldn't be an issue.

This is just a note to all those people who _will_ be reading my story with whatever pairing it gets; thank-you. While I am going into great detail of this first week (in case you didn't notice) I will be spanning this story over a rather lengthy period of time so the pairing may or may not come into play just yet, depending on how I proceed.

_**REALLY IMPORTANT!**_

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE ON A PAIRING SINCE I WILL STOP TAKING OPINIONS AT THE TIME OF THE NEXT UPDATE AND THEN GIVE YOU THE FINAL RESULT! IF YOU WANT YOUR VOTE TO COUNT; HURRY UP!

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling. She dresses him in leather and shows him off at parties. She keeps him chained in her bedroom closet and feeds him strawberry shortcake. She keeps him clean though; sponge baths are always fun. She loans him to her friends and lets them pick out his outfits each day. She holds him close at night as her own personal bed-bug repellent.

**Chapter 7**

"I think I just saw the face of god...didn't know he was such a perve"

"I swear to _God_ if I ever have to listen to a 'Patrick and Peeves; the Pirates of Penzance' performance ever again I will cut off my own ears."

Dean turned to look at Harry as the other boy flopped down on his bed with a look of utter anguish on his face. The comment had got to have been the most random thing he had heard Harry say.

"Okay," Dean replied "I'll need context and information before I can fully interpret the seriousness of this situation."

Harry sat up again and swung around to face Dean, his lower lip trembling as if he were barely holding in sobs. If one looks up melodrama in the dictionary, which member of the Potter family do you think has his picture featured there?

"Okay. I ran into Patrick in the hallway earlier and he gave me an impromptu singing performance. It then came about that I was informed that Peeves was paying the boy in chocolate frogs for keeping up said singing." Harry looks momentarily morphed into one of anger before he retrieved his air of desolation, "Now I thought to myself; what right does a poltergeist have to steel my minions hunh? Really, common courtesy states that he should at least ask me first. So I went to talk to Peeves about this. As I walked, amidst an ongoing serenade from our Hufflepuff friend, I planned a great speech for Peeves. However, as I arrived and began my speech the bloody ghoul interrupted me!" Here Harry looked outraged, "Never in all my days as a political plotter have I been so insulted. Honestly. And to make matters worse… to make matters worse… it was singing, Pirates of Penzance no less." Harry's dismal look returned full force as the boy slumped slightly, beginning to topple backwards over the edge of the bed.

Dean was instantly up and rushed over to catch the boy before he fell off. The pair half sat, half lay on the bed as Dean patted Harry's shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting manner. Harry gave a small but dramatically beneficial hiccup.

"I-I just don't understand it. What could I possibly have done in my past life to deserve an out-of-key, double-time version of _I am the very model of a modern major general_?"

Dean sighed.

"I don't know Harry, I just don't know." Here however Dean grinned as he remembered the song in question.

"I know that one. We used to sing the first four lines as a sort of rhythmic speed exercise back in primary school. It's not half bad." Dean said with a grin as Harry blanched and recoiled from him in horror.

"Oh don't you dare mister! While it can be fun if performed properly, I have heard enough slurred off-key verses of it to last me a life time." Harry almost shouted as Dean took a deep breath (there is no point attempting Pirates of Penzance if you are not going to try to do it in one breath).

"_I am the very model of a modern major general; I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral. I know the kings of England and I quote the fights historical, from Marathon to Waterloo (breath-choke-gasp) in order categorical._" Dean pouted as Harry let out a strangled sob of terror "Damn and I almost had it all down then; just the last three words. Let me try that again."

Harry leapt off the bed and with a scream of "Not you too!" ran out of the dormitory, wailing dramatically about Armageddon.

"_I am the very model of a modern major general; I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral. I know the kings of England and I quote the fights historical, from Marathon to Waterloo in order categorical (gasp-wheeze-pant)_ ALRIGHT I DID IT!" Dean leapt up and punched the air.

Looking around, he seemed to suddenly realize he had lost his audience. He gave a rather foolish grin.

"Oops. I probably wouldn't make much of a therapist hunh."

From outside the door, a rather dry reply of;

"No shit Sherlock."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Harry! McGonagall just told us Remus was coming today! Are you excited?"

"_Professor_ McGonagall, Ron." Hermione corrected with an eye roll as the pair sat down opposite Harry and Ginny who were until then, peacefully enjoying their breakfast. Dean was off spending some catch up time with Seamus who had been slightly neglected over the past few days. He had had Neville for company though so he really couldn't complain much.

"Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with it guys." Harry said quite calmly.

"Oh Harry, you mustn't shut yourself out from us! We want to talk with you about everything. You've hardly spoken to Remus since _you know what_ happened at the end of last term. You must be worried since he's the last person you have left for a parental figure except for the Weasleys. Don't be afraid to get close to him just because he has lycanthropy." Hermione scolded, analyzing the shit out of the situation as usual. And, in what was becoming a common phenomenon lately, she was dead wrong.

Harry had communicated regularly with Remus since _you know what_ as Hermione was calling it though both the floo network, letters, and the occasional visit. Harry also had several parental figures besides Remus (none of whom will be mentioned now) and personally considered his ex-professor as more of a close friend and a role model rather then a guardian type. And, naturally having these beliefs, he was in no way wary of Remus because of his unfortunate condition. He decided not to address these issues, instead realizing that this was the perfect way to give the pair an 'opening up' session to report to Queen Manipulator.

"I'm sorry I haven't been open with you both about this." Harry said, looking down at the table and playing with his fork. "I just don't want to lose another person for no good reason. Snuffles shouldn't have died, it was unnecessary and probably my fault and I don't wish to see another one of my fathers friends die for the same reason."

Ron and Hermione both shot him looks filled with pity.

"Don't worry Harry, Remus is very much capable of looking after himself, I mean, he was the best DADA teacher we've ever had. Mind you, that doesn't really say much, but still, we all know how much strength he holds." Hermione reassured him, making the obvious and sensible comments one would give in reply to Harry's last statement.

"Yeah Harry, he can take care of himself and he will always stand by you. You're pretty much all he has left now anyway." Ron chimed in, earning himself a kick under the table from Hermione.

"Thanks Hermione, your reassurance means a lot to me. And thanks Ron… I think." Harry said smiling slightly at the pair of them who both smiled gently in return and got up to head for class.

Harry and Ginny watched the two depart the hall before Ginny turned to Harry with a questioning look.

"Why didn't you set them strait again?" She questioned (since that is one does when looking questioning)

Harry gave one of the patented sixth year eye rolls.

"_Because_ Ginny, they were itching to have something to tell Dumbledore and now _I,_" He gave an affected sniff, "Have given them their cover story."

"Eh, I guess that makes sense." Ginny mused, "I saw Eleanor's older sister Daphne in the hallways. She appears to basically lead most of the other Slytherin girls around by the nose. I swear I've never seen someone that in control who didn't flaunt it. I'm almost positive the other girls don't even realize she's taken away their free will. The girl is a genius! Anyway, I'd imagine we can expect a large portion of the female Slytherins to approach us. Did you want to make it another open meeting so it's easier to speak to everyone?"

Harry paused for a minute before shaking his head.

"Nah, I need to get some actual planning and organizing done this time plus if this girls as smart as you seem to think, I'd imagine the others will approach me on what they think is their own accord." Harry decided, "Oh Ginny, I've almost finished the Haven plans **1**. After Remus goes to bed for tonight can you meet me in the common room and I'll take you there? I need someone else to have a look over it and tell me if I've left off anything important."

"Will do. What class do you have first?" Ginny asked.

"Potions."

"Ouch." Ginny grimaced apologetically

"Actually, it hasn't been half bad. Snape has pretty much ignored me from day one, Ron didn't make the class and Snape always pairs Hermione off with Bulstrode or Parkinson so I barely see her." Harry replied mildly

"Who are you usually paired with?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Depends, on the first day it was Goyle, then I didn't have Potions the next day, and then yesterday I was paired with Draco since someone obviously forgot to inform our esteemed Potions Master that we are now friends." Harry said, "I don't see him still being ignorant of it today so I'm actually a little worried about who he'll pair me with."

"Yeah, he may be a little pissed about failing to upset you yesterday so who knows what he'll come up with." Ginny murmured to Harry as Crabbe and Goyle walked past. The two apparently were no longer guarding Draco and were simply looking for a new leader to pick them up. "No Harry you can't recruit gorillas, it goes against your third policy." Ginny scolded as Harry suddenly looked thoughtful.

"Oh well. This lesson will probably be the first harsh Potions lesson. Up until now, Snape seemed to be too shocked that I'd made it into his class to actually berate me over my apparent stupidity." Harry commented dryly.

"Oh yeah, what were your OWL's anyway?" Ginny asked having not heard this from him.

"O's for DADA, Charms, and Potions, EE's for COMC and Transfiguration, A's for Herbology and Astronomy, and P's for History of Magic and Divination. Don't look at me like that Ginny, I was never particularly _bad_ at Potions, I just lacked the motivation and experienced one too many distractions." Harry pouted at the red-head who just raised an eyebrow, kissed his cheek for the audience (Hermione and Ron had now spread their dating status to the entire school), and headed off to class.

Harry slowly made his way towards the dungeons. He was in no hurry since he would probably get to class well before it began anyway, so instead he simply ambled, occasionally stopping to talk to a portrait.

"So you're dating Miss Weasley. Darn and I was hoping you were single."

"Miss Greengrass, you have been informed of my situations, do I even _need_ to offer a rebuttal to that last statement?" Harry queried, turning to look at the slightly shorter girl.

"Well no you don't _have_ to but it would be good if you did because then we could have a long and fascinating debate about it which would keep us entertained all the way to class, unless of course you can offer up a more interesting topic for discussion?" Daphne replied pouting prettily, her light brown almost shoulder-length curls bounced slightly as she walked.

"Well, I could but we are already having such _fun_ discussing what to discuss and I do not see the point of interrupting this banter with some uninteresting subject change."

"We could continue in this manner I guess and discuss how well we've discussed what we want to discuss but eventually it would get to be ridiculous don't you think?"

"I guess you're right." Harry sighed, "Well, we could begin with you explaining to me why you, as a fifth year are currently studying with my sixth year potions class. From there we could probably have a rather entertaining discussion about the costs and benefits of accelerated learning, before eventually moving on to Ministry policies about education. By that time we would have arrived at the classroom and your Head of House would probably have arrived and thus finding me to be having entirely to pleasant a time, would separate me from your exquisite company, instead pairing me with which ever numbskull is most likely to get me blown up."

Daphne gave a soft laugh before adopting a mock serious expression.

"I suppose that those topics will have to do for now, I mean you are a Gryffindor and I can't expect to have you fully trained already. I have only been talking to you for a few minutes after all." She cleared her throat delicately, "I am in your Potions class because I was above the average level of my fellow fifth years and most sixth years who choose to take this subject. I was thus given the option of moving ahead in my studies and as a result, I now accompany you in our Potions journey."

"I see Miss Greengrass, but while I am delighted to have this opportunity to appreciate your diction, I do wonder if I should fear for your schooling. Are you not afraid that your grades could suffer due to the unfamiliarity of the situation you have been placed in?" Harry questioned with a worried frown.

"That was originally a concern of mine but I have since weighed up these issues as opposed to the benefits and have decided to allow my skills to blossom to their full extent. To limit oneself to an environment well beneath ones skills is ultimately damaging to ones mental progress." Daphne replied formally with a guise surprisingly similar to Hermione's 'lecturing look'.

"Ah, but I must contest that Miss Greengrass. I am afraid you will find that many students who choose to be accelerated lack the social skills and knowledge of the elders they now find themselves equaled with. As such, compensation can lead to a lack of freedom to express true beliefs." Was the reply Daphne received.

"That could become a problem in some scenarios." She acknowledged, "But in this instance, I am only taking one subject ahead of my year mates and thus will lose no opportunities to associate with others of my own age, not to mention the fact that there is only a slight age gap and thus it stands to reason that there will be no great difference between your knowledge of the world and mine."

"Ah yes, one of the advantages of our current education system is that after only a little persuasion, one can manipulate the whole system to work for oneself. Of course, the equal opportunities amendment of 1976 means that while one may study ahead; one cannot be credited for it. Might I presume that you are still taking your Potions OWL's this year?"

"Yes unfortunately. The amendment is rather foolish really, particularly in its name for as it stands, we are as far from equal opportunities as possible. I mean, I will have much more knowledge to draw upon in my exams then my fellows and I would imagine that last year you had no realistic feedback of your work upon which you could work to adjust and improve." Daphne commented with a sympathetic look.

"True," Harry commented with a saddened look "But never fear, I shall strive to work above my circumstances, while you, may I assume will strive to force adjustments in the inequality of yours."

"Potter, Greengrass, we are working in pair today and so… Miss Greengrass you will work with Miss Patil, Potter you will work with Mister Zabini."

Daphne and Harry both began to shift there gear off of the workbench they were now sitting at and towards Padma and Blaise.

"Merlin I am soooooo good at predicting things." Harry muttered before he left, earning a kick from his companion.

"Show off." Daphne whispered with a grin before leaving him to face the wrath of Snape and the glares of the once elder and now only Zabini heir.

- - - - - - - - - -

Note: I have already mentioned this in my profile but I know many of you don't read it so I'll repeat myself now. The next six weeks are really busy for me so chapters in that period will be shorter and less frequent. My apologies if this upset you but I will have fourteen weeks free after that so expect a lot of writing in that period.

Yes I realize I left out the Patrick segment, I had to leave it there in preparation for the next chapter. I'm sure you can all figure out what is going to happen. This chapter was designed to give my interpretation of how Daphne would be. I will not make anyone with the potential to end up with Harry a shy person. The have to be smart and amusing else he would get bored.

_**REALLY IMPORTANT!**_

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE ON A PAIRING SINCE I WILL STOP TAKING OPINIONS AT THE TIME OF THE NEXT UPDATE AND THEN GIVE YOU THE FINAL RESULT! IF YOU WANT YOUR VOTE TO COUNT; HURRY UP!

- - -

**1**. No I'm not going to tell you all what this is about… figure it out yourselves. First person to guess in a review exactly what Haven is gets a cyber cookie.


	8. El Hijo de Obatala

Authors Note: Holy Guacamole

**Authors Note: **Holy Guacamole! Will you _look_ at that review count?!?!?! 143! I passed 100! Un-freaking-believable! Yes I do realize that most reviews were simply for the pairing poll and thus I will get less next chapter; but it is nice to _think_ you all reviewed simply for the sake of offering me feedback because you love me. About the pole… well I won't talk here, I'll just give you the results.

Harry/Dean- 49

Harry/Daphne- 44

Harry/Draco- 27

Harry/Susan- 12

Harry/Remus- 9

No Pairing- 8

Harry/Hannah- 7

Harry/Severus- 6

Harry/Neville- 5

Harry/Sirius- 5

In case this does not make it obvious, I will now point out that this just became a **slash** story. Just so's you know, Daphne would have won if I went simply with the review votes… Dean pulled through with votes via PM and from people who "know" me.

I would like to say farewell to those of you who are stopping reading now. I appreciate that you stuck with it up to this point and I'm sorry that this does not match with your desires. I will be writing a Harry/Daphne story simply because the vote was really close and I've started to like the idea. It will arrive promptly on the 28th of November (as a birthday present for someone I know). Thank you to all those who reviewed… ciao!

As for those of you who are happy to keep reading… thanks. I appreciate it more than you could know. The pairing will not come into pay immediately as this story will span a long time frame. As someone rightly pointed out; they have a job to do! The build up for the pairing will exist so you should be able to spot it fairly soon. One thing I should point out is that this story will not be one of those stories where Harry is gay and therefore everyone else is as well. What are the girls supposed to do huh? Oh yeah they all just make out with each other. The point is that unless m-preg existed, the wizarding world would die out fairly quickly. Hmm… should _this_ story be m-preg?

In case you haven't figured it out, I like "unusual" pairings and thus I will try to pick ones that haven't or have rarely been tried (to my knowledge). Some will have to be common but not all. So that means no GWDG or GWDM for all those who asked (sorry). Hey, I know! Has anyone seen a GWSF pairing?

This chapter is designed to sum up what will be occurring although I won't specifically state "this person will join Voldemort", "this information will relevant when Harry tries to travel to the moon", etc. It is not very organized and tends to jump around between different scenes and conversations. Forgive me for this but I have no other way of introducing things that will happen. This is the longest chapter yet btw.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling. She dresses him in leather and shows him off at parties. She keeps him chained in her bedroom closet and feeds him strawberry shortcake. She keeps him clean though; sponge baths are always fun. She loans him to her friends and lets them pick out his outfits each day. She holds him close at night as her own personal bed-bug repellent. She sometimes does swapsies with her friend Leigh Eddings and trades him with Garion (the 16 year old not the thirty something year old).

**Chapter 8 **- This chapter is dedicated to NATWEST because a review left by this person for Chapter 6 is what convinced me not to worry that some of you will not read this story because it is now slash (I hope you like this chapter a bit more than the last one... I am a bit more awake now then I was when writing number 7 so hopefully you will find this to be an improvement). Just something I would like to also point out at this point is that the people who said they would stop reading now had the worst spelling and grammar overall out of all you reviewers. Ignorance is ignorance I guess.

My dream is to someday be a member of the White House press corps and begin every question, "Riddle me this, Mr. President..." Bob Van Voris

_Last chapter:_

"_Potter, Greengrass, we are working in pair today and so… Miss Greengrass you will work with Miss Patil, Potter you will work with Mister Zabini." _

_Daphne and Harry both began to shift there gear off of the workbench they were now sitting at and towards Padma and Blaise. _

"_Merlin I am soooooo good at predicting things." Harry muttered before he left, earning a kick from his companion._

"_Show off." Daphne whispered with a grin before leaving him to face the wrath of Snape and the glares of the once elder and now only Zabini heir._

"Okay Zabini here's the deal. You keep your mouth shut and don't talk to me at all this lesson and I will let you keep your head in its current position atop your shoulders." Harry slammed his gear down on the table before them, startling the other boy who was glaring at him angrily.

Harry was particularly upset with this boy for he had, up until recently, been Andrew Forester's elder brother. The pair also had one sister, age thirteen in Slytherin, but Harry knew very little about her except that she was a born and bred blood purist. Mind you, he was willing to bet Andrew had been brought up with those beliefs too but Harry wasn't sure people would take to it too kindly if he decided to make every purist a werewolf simply to change their political stance. Besides, he'd feel kind of mean doing it.

"And what Potter, gives you the right to decide what will and won't remain attached to my body?" Zabini practically ground out.

Harry smiled at him sweetly. He never got tired of the entertainment human stupidity provided.

"Why Blaise surely you've noticed? You're basically surrounded. I sit here at your left with my wand far closer to my hand then yours is to your own. No, don't change that… I might assume you plan on attacking me and thus act accordingly. To your right, sits Mister Malfoy who would be more than happy to carve you a brand spanking new arsehole. He would probably then feign an injury of some kind saying it was caused by you which as a result would lead to our Mister Goyle in front of you swinging around and punching your lights out, leaving myself and Miss Greengrass to play with what would be left of you. Of course, you could assume that our darling Professor will stop us before reaching several of these stages but… do you really want to take that chance? After all; just imagine if I were to accidentally send a rather strong stunning spell in his direction somewhere near the beginning of this hypothetical fiasco, knocking him for six thus leaving the situation open for improvisation. And that my dear Blaise is why I have the right to decide what will and won't remain attached to your body. Any questions?"

"You have got some _nerve_ Potter." The now furious youth muttered as Professor Snape sent them a suspicious glance.

"Do I? I'm terribly sorry. Forgive me oh Great Lord of the Darkness for I am simply a little upset as of late since I have recently had a rather saddening conversation with a young werewolf friend of mine about his childhood years. It's left me with a lot of pent up tension that I would be thrilled to work out somehow. Perhaps you know my young friend hmm? He goes by the name of Andrew Forester but I believe he used to be referred to as Lupus Zabini. Rather ironic really, the name he started out with I mean, I'm guessing it was selected in reference to the constellation _Lupus_- the Wolf. Now what is the story behind that one? Oh yes… Lupus was held in the grasp of Centaurus and presented as an offering to higher powers. Lupus was once Lycaon, the king of Arcadia but was turned into a wild wolf. Like I said; ironic. Hey! Now I think about it… your last name is the same as his used to be! Perhaps you are related?" Harry smiled in what one would have thought was an innocent manner, until his eyes were seen.

Cold and ruthless, they promised pain and torture for the one he was looking at. Blaise shivered slightly before regaining some of his strength.

"Potter for you to be telling me this, you must already know I am related to him. Everyone does. Or are you not intelligent enough to read simple print? I believe the story was in several newspapers."

"Ah, but one can never be certain of media integrity. I just thought I would confirm that you were the brother Andrew spoke of before I informed you of this. And 'this' is as follows;" Here he paused for effect, "Blaise Zabini, you are on my list."

"… huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean Potter?" Blaise asked.

"Never you mind dear."

Daphne momentarily halted her conversation with Padma and leant forward over her table to where Draco was sitting.

"He has a list?" She murmured in his ear.

"This is the first I've heard of it by apparently so." Draco answered while trying to concentrate on Harry's conversation _and_ help Theodore grind the four manticore spikes required in the potion.

Harry's conversation however had ended as he had wandered over to the back of the classroom to collect ingredients while Zabini grudgingly set up the cauldron and other items. Harry came back with his bundle and proceeded to split his collection evenly between himself and his partner and then set to work while Zabini, having realized that he stood no chance against those who surrounded him, simply concentrated on their potion.

The Slytherin was actually rather exceptional at the subject and placed third last year, beaten only by Draco and Hermione.

When the lesson finally ended and Professor Snape came round to check each of their potions, Harry was, for the first time, actually pleased when Snape found a slight flaw in his work and as a result gave both of them a notional zero.

"Joseph, may I please talk with you for a moment?"

The boy seemed surprised by this request from his new 'leader' but was happy to oblige him and stepped out of the Great Hall after leaving strict instructions for Patrick to _not_ eat his lunch of course.

"Alright, there are two matters I need to discuss with you. Firstly, which of your fathers is a journalist and who or what does he write for?" Harry started out the instant they were away from the crowd.

"Ah, my Dad is, Peter Crescent. My Papa, Alexander Tumwater works for the Department for Restoration of Relics. Dad is a reporter for Clear Cast. It's sold all over Britain and can be ordered overseas. It's not as popular as the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly but its more reliable then both and has a lot more respect from the public then say the Quibbler for example."

"Can you give me his work address please? I need to contact him over some publicity matters." Harry explained at the boy's suspicious look.

"Well… okay then." He scribbled on a piece of parchment and passed it to Harry, "You cannot give this to anyone else. His is a private sector not one for open discussion. There is a feedback address for that."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for trusting me. Trust is actually why I wanted to speak with you more then this matter." Harry said with a look that bespoke the seriousness of what he was about to ask, "You are becoming friends with Andrew are you not?" The younger boy inclined his head, "Well then perhaps you already know that my werewolf friend is coming to talk with him tonight after the meeting."

Joseph nodded gently and then sighed.

"I don't know if Andrew will say much to him Mister Harry. Andy doesn't talk much at all in case you didn't notice. I have managed to get him to open up slightly but that took me a while and has not occurred often. However, I have only known him a few days so I am hoping that this means he will trust me enough in the future to share more."

"I realize this Joseph. He has however already opened up to you more than anyone else. Which is why," Harry took a deep breath before pushing on. "Which is why I would like for you to be present for this meeting as well."

"But Sir- Mister Harry, I cannot do that, it is between him and your friend. If I interfere-" Harry held up a hand to cut off the slightly panicked boy.

"Chances are Andrew will only listen to Remus- that's my friend. He will give a few small comments but that is it. For this reason, I am hoping Remus will make several trips out here to see him. However, Andrew is already shown he trusts you enough to listen to and discuss things with you and if you are at this meeting simply for moral support, he may be comfortable talking with you about it at a later date." Joseph looked wary, but sighed and nodded his acceptance.

"Thank you Joseph. I want no record of what he may say when you two are in private to get out to anyone, myself included, for he trusts you with his privacy and to have that betrayed would cause Andrew to lose what little faith he still has in human decency."

"I would not dream of doing such a thing Mister Harry." Joseph said stiffly.

"Then I am proud of you Joseph, for being capable of something that many who are supposedly wiser then you have failed to master." Harry said gently so as to heal the boy's freshly wounded pride.

"Thank you Mister Harry."

"Hey Mister Harry!"

"Hello Eleanor, how is your sister?" Harry asked, turning to meet the small bundle of energy sprinting towards him.

"She's good." Eleanor replied after catching her breath, "I was thinking, you know how I actually did my first year last year as well?"

"Ah, no I hadn't heard about this."

"Well, I decided to start my first year a year early at the age of ten since I was already at that level. My sister and I are above average in most things. As I was saying; I started a year early, but after watching how much my sister got screwed around by the system, I decided to go at a regular pace rather than be hindered later on. As such this is my second time as a first year. It's not repeating so much as it's returning to the norm." Eleanor explained herself.

"Alright, I guess that makes sense." Harry agreed, "Now, I'm guessing you didn't run down the halls to tell me that so what is it you wanted to say."

"Well, Professor Dumbledore said at the start of this term that if I wanted to I could attend the second year classes but I said no." Eleanor began, "Now, I was thinking, there were only two second years at the last meeting so maybe if I take some classes with them this will give me an opportunity to try and recruit some people. What do you think?"

"Will this hurt your schooling in any way?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Heck no, I'll finally be learning something new again. Besides, I can always go back to first year once we're done."

"Then I think it is awesome. Go for it." Harry said, raising his hand for a high-five; a gesture the eleven year old pure blood had no concept of. After a few quick cultural lessons, the two got back on topic.

"Cool. It will probably take a few days to organize but as far as I know we're not on a schedule."

"Um, actually, we kind of are. But it shouldn't be a problem for your plan. I'll just have to rearrange a few things in my overall plan."

"Okay then. Care to let us non psychic people in on this thing?" Eleanor asked as he trailed off into though.

"No not particularly."

"Meanie."

"Only to runty first years."

"But I'm a second year now remember?" Eleanor stated triumphantly.

"Ah good point."

"…"

"What?"

"Aren't you going to tell me the plan thing now that you can't be mean to me?" Eleanor asked pointedly.

"No actually I'm not. Only Ginny knows the whole plan and that's just because she's a crazy psychic girl."

"You lied to me Mister Harry!" Eleanor shouted as he began to walk off again. She received only a laugh for a reply.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up a second, I think we missed something… so we just roll the little dotty thing and then I suddenly owe Weasley money?"

"Oh come _on_ Malfoy! It's Monopoly for Merlin's sake. How hard can it be to figure out?"

"Shut up Thomas."

"Make me Ass-wipe."

"Oh I will. Believe you me, I will make you pay."

"Okay, okay, break it up here people." Harry finally interceded, "There will be no evil or ominous threats in this room, not as long as I can do anything to stop it."

"Er, Harry? You've said that twice already and it's yet to make a difference." Ginny pointed out, looking up from her money counting.

"Oh really? As far as I can see, neither of them have directed any threats at me for the past forty minutes. For Draco here, that's a new record."

"Harry?"

"Yes Draco."

"_I will eat your_ _soul_!"

"… Now that has _got_ to be the lamest threat I've ever received. Well… maybe not the complete lamest, but it's got to be close."

Harry, Ginny, and Dean were all sitting around in the Room of Requirement, trying to teach Draco how to play Monopoly. _Trying_ being the operative word since they had been playing for thirty-five minutes and had only passed GO three times They had all come here immediately after finishing class to set up for the meeting that evening. They knew for a fact that no new people would be coming today since Harry had decided that, with the exception of Eleanor's friends and Daphne's little sheep, he would not be specifically targeting any more students for the time being. Instead he would concentrate on training up his forces or _minions_ as he had taken to calling them.

As the situation currently stood, they were planning to do a basic assessment of all the students above first year tonight and as such had decided to come early to make sure they had the right set up. They had unfortunately forgotten that they were working in the Room of Requirement and as such would not have to make much effort. All four had actually been rather surprised to open the door and find the room perfect already. The room had expanded to roughly the size of a small gymnasium. It was divided into quarters by rope fences, not unlike those found around wrestling rings. Each square had a line down the middle and around the wall of the room were fifty-eight chairs.

There were also several book cases, a table with jugs of water and glasses, and some towels. It was about now that Dean and Draco realized that Harry was planning to train them in physical combat as well as magical.

And so it was that, in order to pass time, they were all playing Monopoly. Dean, being muggleborn, had grown up with the game. Harry had played it in school, and Ginny had been shown the game by her father, although after she actually read the rule book, she realized he had been slightly mistaken with his thought that one really could end up in jail if you made a wrong move.

"Harry," Draco said, taking his eyes off the game and subsequently missing Dean landing on his property followed by Ginny hurriedly rolling her go so that Dean would not have to pay, "Remember in Potions when you were threatening Zabini?" Harry nodded while collecting some money from Ginny who had landed on Piccadilly, and had been booked by Harry before she could roll again (she had doubles), "Well, what exactly was the list you were referring too?"

"Ah, my list," Harry said melodramatically as Ginny landed on another of Draco's few properties (Regent) and passed the dice to the blonde who rolled without even looking at the board, "Well, I have this list of people who I feel deserve to suffer more than anyone else. I am keeping track of their alliances and, when the opportunity arises, such suffering will begin. I realize it's a fairly _Dark Lordish_ thing to do, but it is a very short list and I only put people on it if they really deserve it. You landed on Euston. You owe me."

"Ah, okay then. So are you going to tell us who's on this list?" Draco questioned, passing over a fifty pound note with barely a glance at it. Harry looked at it momentarily before adding it to the pile, passing Draco only three pounds in change.

"Nah, I think I'll keep it a secret now. Maybe I'll use these people as tests for people who want to be in my inner circle. You know, arrange the most torturous experience and I'll give you France, that kind of thing. Oh wait… I don't have an inner circle and I don't own France as of yet. Oh well, I'm planning ahead."

"Torture? Are you going to let us use the unforgivables?" Ginny looked up startled.

"Well, I'm not going to ban them since there _are_ circumstances in which they are the best course of action." Harry commented, rolling the dice and taking out Mayfair, "However, I am not going to condone using them for the sake of using them, just for the power trip they would provide. When I said torture, I was talking about psychological torture not physical torture. If we take prisoners in any circumstances, it will not be for fun, but rather for information which will be forced out through the use of veritaserum. People can still lie under torture. To avoid pain they are more likely to simply say what they think you want to hear rather then what the reality of any situation is."

"I guess that makes sense." Dean acknowledged, "I'm guessing that after getting the information you would either obliviate them and send them back if they are simply a bystander or a pawn, or dispose of them quickly and painlessly if they are a key figure for one of the other sides."

"Correct. Those would be the most common situations but in some circumstances, we may find other uses for them. For example, if Fudge captured Ginny and we happened to have Umbridge, an exchange could probably be arranged to get me back my second in command. Speaking of which, Ginny, you need to elect someone to take on your role if you are out of action for any reason. Plus of course, if you took over for me, they would assume your role until I returned to power."

"Sure thing." Ginny nodded, "Give me a little while to make the decision permanently, but if something happens in the meantime, just use Dean or Malfoy here. Hey Malfoy, I'll trade you my Trafalgar Square for your Regent Street? It gives you two of the one colour."

"Er, okay then."

Draco and Ginny made their swap and Harry kicked Ginny under the table.

"What was that for?" She cried out angrily.

"Why, taking advantage of his ignorance of this game, of course." Harry replied with a smirk.

"Oh, like you can talk Mister _Rent for White Hall will cost you seventy pounds_."

"That wasn't taking advantage that was providing an education." Harry justified himself.

"Riiiiight."

"You know," Draco commented to Dean as the other boy jumped over Vine Street to avoid paying Draco, "I think it is fairly safe to say that there is no possible way I can win this game right now."

"Yeah, I can't find fault in that statement." Dean agreed, counting out his newly embezzled Free Parking funds.

"Okay, everyone take a seat. Today, since we have no new comers, I am going to assess your level of magical training. First years are exempt from this exercise for obvious reasons but feel free to watch and learn. Eleanor, I need you to participate since we need even numbers and Dean won't be participating. Don't look at me like that Dean, it's just because I already know your level from class time and the DA so I need someone to help me keep an eye on everything. I will expect all of you to participate in some up and coming exercises but we'll get to them later. For now, we will be having mock duels between people of similar age groups, two to a team so, in the square closest to the bookcases, can I have Toarks and Firelle versus Phillips and Quirke. In the square nearest the doorway, can I get Clapmatch senior and Fisher versus Opals and Eaurk. Both Creevey's versus both Greengrass' in the square to my left, and Weasley and Malfoy versus Weasley and Weasley in the square over there. Everyone else take a seat. Fred, George, you can opt to take it easy on your sister if you so chose but remember, she is not to be underestimated."

As the sixteen people listed made their way to their positions and the others all sat down, Dean moved casually over to stand beside Harry.

"You do realize you have just paired a fifteen year old and a sixteen year old against two eighteen year olds, both of whom have had training by order members and were already talented to begin with?" Dean murmured, barely moving his lips.

"Of course, but Draco has been trained by his father to be a death eater and Ginny is just plain evil. No matter how hard she tries to convince us otherwise, you and I both know what she is capable of." Harry justified himself.

Dean grinned.

"Sounds like we can expect quite a show down." He commented casually.

"Indeed we can my dear, dear friend… _indeed_ we can." Harry stated with a wicked grin before turning to face the group at large, "Okay, you may use any spell that causes no permanent side affects, and cannot warrant a visit to the hospital wing. The rope barriers have an invisible force field which reaches the ceiling and stops any spells from reaching the rest of us. They will bounce the spell back into the square a maximum of four times before it will just be absorbed so be careful or you may find you end up getting hit in the arse by one of your own spells. You may not pass that line in the middle for any reason unless the other team surrenders upon which you must cross the line immediately to reverse all spells you have cast. They will then do the same for you. _No_ exceptions Fred, George, I'm talking to you.

"Non-participants, you may feel free to call out encouragement, but you cannot warn people or give suggestions of spells. Do not try and cast anything or you will find it coming back to hit you. Are we all ready? Okay… wands out… three… two… one… begin."

The room was instantly filled with almost deafening noise. Those on the side lines were screaming encouragements to their friends, and those in the squares were yelling out spells and then ducking as fast as they could. It was soon evident who was up to scratch and who wasn't. The first battle team to surrender were Belinda Opals and Damian Eaurk, two third year Hufflepuffs who were facing off against Penelope Fisher, a third year Gryffindor, and Marcus Clapmatch, the fourth year Hufflepuff. Belinda had been focusing on the spells going between herself and the elder Hufflepuff and thus had missed the quick tickling charm Penelope had sent her way while Damian was ducking from three rebounding spells which were heading towards him. Marcus had quickly stunned the Hufflepuff girl before he sent a tripping charm at Damian so Penelope could send yet another stunner. The pair had instantly crossed the line and went to revive the pair so that they could get rid of the green, curly arm hair they had both received, courtesy of Miss Opals.

The next battle to end was the Creevey / Greengrass battle. Harry had balanced this by having third and fourth year students verse second (or first depending on how you look at it) and fifth years. However, he had forgotten that hereditary Slytherins are taught from birth to use strategy and play dirty. The battle had seemed to be in the Creevey brothers' favor for a while, with Eleanor struggling to get out of Colin's binding spell while Daphne fought off both brothers, but moments later, Eleanor, still bound, managed to reach her wand and sent two ice spells against the side barriers.

Her aim was perfect and both spells came round to hit the brothers in the back. Daphne then took advantage of the resultant staggering cast a charm to send vines up to wrap around their wands. The elder girl then conjured up blindfolds while Eleanor send heat charms which, hitting the same spot as the ice had, would result in a non-permanent case of chilblains. The two brothers instantly raised their arms in surrender and, after Daphne released her sister, the Slytherins approached the Gryffindors and removed the spells. The brothers both smiled their thanks and removed the spell causing the sisters to have a rather cheesy grin stuck on their faces. They were photographers after all and they knew the tricks of the trade.

The two second year Slytherins, William Toarks and Alison Firelle were both doing a remarkable job against the two third years, but they were fast loosing ground (metaphorically of course). Fairly soon after the end of the Creevey / Greengrass battle, they were both forced to surrender as the seeker vines crawling up their legs were fast approaching body cavities that the pair _really_ did not want to be explored. Orla immediately removed the vines as Patricia grudgingly pulled off several other spells from the two Slytherins. Old prejudices do die hard. As a result, the younger two were slightly slow in removing the squid-like creatures currently getting acquainted with Miss Phillip's earlobes.

With these three battles over, all the room's occupants turned to watch the main show happening in the square furthest from the door. Watching the action packed scene before them, Dean and Harry surreptitiously drew their wands in preparation to interfere if things got nasty.

It had not taken long for Fred and George to realize how adept their sister and the young Slytherin were at casting nasty curses. In truth though, they probably should have been a tad faster, considering how often they had been at the receiving end of a bat bogey hex. However, they were Gryffindors through and through so no one was expecting instantaneous understanding.

It wasn't long before both teams were fighting tooth and nail to push the other team to surrender. The first actual hit came from Draco in the form of a _densaugeo _which hit Fred but, luckily for him, the twins had been working on a candy item which caused the same affect on the recipient and thus could cast the reverse spell almost instantly. Draco, being Draco, naturally paused momentarily for a victory smirk which resulted in a direct hit to the chest with an engorgement charm from George in revenge which gave him a rather average set of breasts to bare until Ginny took pity on the horrified boy and shrunk them back before going back to casting spell after spell at Fred who had put up a shield while he waited for his teeth to return to their normal size.

Draco was, of course, rather upset by the most recent spell cast on him which, unfortunately for George, caused him to double in his concentration and begin focusing on causing as much humiliation for the twins as possible. After a quick warning to Ginny who, as a result, slowed her spell casting a little so as to keep an eye on her surroundings, Draco then began casting every humiliating and/or painful spell his father had taught him randomly at the barriers causing the square to fill up with rebounding beams of light, all speeding around at top speed. Ginny had the presence of mind to cast a _notice-me-not_ charm on herself so that the spells designed to focus in on moving targets would not move towards her and she was more then capable of ducking from the random beams. Draco was too furious to allow any old spell to stop him and was dancing around gracefully to avoid them as he continued casting and shouting insults.

"You know, he's actually pretty darn good." Dean commented to Harry, sounding almost surprised.

Harry, who had fought the boy enough times to have already realized this, simply smiled and focused on the results of all spells which hit the twins.

When Draco finally calmed down, or was worn out enough to pause a little, the air cleared allowing everyone a clear view of what had happened to the twins. Fred, whose shield had given way some time ago, was sporting a horse tail, blue skin which itched terribly, and a high pitched voice which sounded like he had been inhaling helium.

George however, whether it was simply the luck of the draw, or Draco's psycho revenge plan had actually been targeted at the boy, had received the brunt of the attack. The red-head was now wearing nothing but a pair of pink Barbie doll underpants (although God knows where Draco had encountered Barbie in the past. In truth, do any of us really _want_ to know?) and a glaring frown. He covered in large red welts and had his hands bound by a pair of silk hand cuffs (again, do we _want_ to know where Draco got these ideas?). His face was scrunched up in a strange way that strongly resembled a zombie who had suck down one too many grapefruit over the ages, and his ears had elongated to resemble those of the elves one may find in something by Tolkien. Around the room, every first year burst into applause at the amusing sight before them.

George scowled as best he could before casting five _incendio_ spells in Draco's direction while Fred sent an _incarcerous_ at his younger sister who was too busy laughing to pay attention. Draco, after putting out the fire on his cuffs, immediately sent a couple of stinging and itching charms at George, all of which missed but one hit Fred on the rebound, who yelped and sent an obscure charm to create roses at Draco.

The Slytherin, upon realizing what was now decorating his hair, turned and gave Fred a sweet smile.

"Why Weasel, I didn't know you felt that way." He practically sung, while ducking the odd collection of spells being sent in his general direction by George, "Forgive me if I do not reciprocate the feelings."

With this comment, the newly decorated member of the Malfoy family, spun dramatically to face George and sent a hugely powerful and apparently unavoidable spell at the other boy. A cloud of smoke rose up but, when it cleared, Fred, Draco, and the still bound Ginny were sharing their square with a rather irritated orange ferret. Now you can't tell me that does not allow for _some_ sort of congratulations to be sent Draco's way.

"Alright, alright, guys let's leave it there and call it a tie." Harry called out once he and everyone else were done laughing.

A still grinning Fred, crossed the line and, after patting Draco on the back for "true skill in the revenge department" before releasing Ginny and removing the colour changing charm he had cast on her while she was down. Ginny, finally able to laugh freely, did so, and then began removing the additive Draco had attached to Fred's lower back, along with all his other new problems.

Draco went across and, after returning George to human form, began to remove the assorted embarrassing curses he had placed on the boy.

"Hey Draco, how do I change Fred's voice back?" Ginny called from where she was, "I've tried a few things but I can't get it to go."

"Give it fifteen minutes and then a simple _finite incantem_ should do it." Draco called as George removed the flowers his brother had places in Draco's hair.

"Okay everyone, listen up." Harry called, as he and Dean approached the centre of one of the now empty squares, "That was really well done, from all of you. However, an experienced wizard or witch is going to have no trouble avoiding a tripping spell or a stunner, no matter how distracted they are. A lot of the people we will be going up against will have no qualms about sending an instant killing curse at a thirteen year old. I need all of you at a stage where you are capable of fighting against these people. House rivalries play no role here, Phillips, Toarks, Firelle; I'm talking to you three. Anyway, we will continue on through the rest of our group now. You sixteen go get yourselves some water."

"Was the room what you had in mind for today Harry?"

"Yeah Gin, it is actually pretty much like one of the training halls at Haven. I'm surprised the Room of Requirement managed to pull that exact image out of my brain as we were approaching but hey, it does seem to have a mind of its own."

The dastardly duo was making its way up to Dumbledore's office. Dinner was now over and Remus would be arriving in five minutes through the floo entrance located there. The training in the Room of Requirement had continued for over an hour until Harry had realized that there was no possible way he could get on to physical training in this session and still get something to eat before the rather eventful evening he had planned.

"I told Andrew and Joseph to meet us in the room with the trapdoor on the third floor." Harry informed Ginny as the gargoyle moved aside to allow them entrance, "I figured, since there is no three headed dog anymore, it should be a fairly decent meeting area. Plus, it is unlikely anyone will be going near it since none of the rooms up there are in use any more, nor are many of them fit to be."

"Do you not think you should leave Mister Forester to fight his own battles my boy? After all, one must face ones trials in order to better meet with ones destiny." Dumbledore commented, having heard the last part of their conversation as they approached his office.

"No Sir I don't actually." Harry said calmly, "I feel we should always try to alleviate the sufferings of our peers. After all, how can I hope for others to respect and assist me if I do not do the same for them?"

"Harry, you must realize that sometimes it is necessary for people to live their own lives, otherwise they will be too sheltered from the realities of this world we live in."

"Well, you are entitled to your own opinion Sir, and I am entitled to mine, and my opinion is that-"

Here Harry was cut off as the fire flared green and Remus stumbled out. The man straitened and turned to catch a knapsack which flew out moments later.

"Thanks." Remus called to someone at the other end before turning to greet the three people before him.

"Remmy!" Harry grinned and hugged the man enthusiastically.

"Hey there Harry," The gentle man smiled down at the boy, "Albus, Miss Weasley." He nodded.

"Hello Remus, how have you been?" The Queen of Manipulations greeted the man _thought_ to be his pawn (_wink, wink, wink._)

"Hello Professor Lupin, Sir." Ginny greeted him.

"I have been well Albus." Remus continued with the headmaster.

"And our guest at Grimmauld Place?"

"_My_ visitor is also doing fine." Remus answered, looking slightly hostile.

"I am glad to here it." Dumbledore said in his 'I am the God of all things Holy' voice.

"Yeah, I'll bet you are." Remus muttered before looking down at the boy now no longer hugging him, "Harry, I believe you were going to take me out around the castle?"

"Why yes I was Remmy. Ginny, could you tell Ron that I'm sorry but I won't be able to play chess with him tonight?"

"Sure Harry." Ginny said catching on as Dumbledore looked pleased to hear his Golden Trio were still a solid unit, "I'll see you later this evening though right? We were going to talk for a while remember?"

"Sure Gin." Harry replied.

Ginny headed for the doorway, pausing to give Harry a short kiss for Dumbledore's sake before leaving entirely. Harry smiled after her with what he hoped was a wistful, day dreamy look on his face.

"Professor, I have to take Remus to our meeting point now if that is alright so we'll see you later this evening when he returns." Harry informed his headmaster, seeming to snap back to the present after his short 'day dream'.

"Where exactly are you two going to meet with Mister Forester?" Dumbledore asked curiously, having missed that part of Harry's conversation with Ginny.

"Sorry Sir, I didn't quite catch that!" Harry called behind him as he was pulled Remus out of the room, "We'll be back in maybe two hours, maximum!"

"Hello Andrew, Joseph." Harry greeted each smaller boy with a nod.

"Hello Mister Harry, Sir." Joseph replied as Andrew just stared shyly at Remus.

"This is my friend Remus Lupin. He was a Professor here actually during my third year." Harry introduced Remus who nodded to Joseph before turning to Andrew.

"Hello Mister Forester." Remus greeted the child who looked up at him shyly, "I've heard a lot about you through the press over the last few months. Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" Andrew shook his head, "Well then, let's just take a seat over here and I'll just tell you a few things you should probably know."

Harry quietly led Joseph over to a sofa which had been set up while Remus sat Andrew down in some armchairs next to them. The room was not actually as bog as Harry had remembered from his first year but it was quite cozy. He had sent Susan and Hannah up earlier to make sure it was inhabitable. As a result, the floor was now fully furnished with deep, comfortable, rich, blue armchairs and sofas, rested on a sky blue carpet. There were some large lily shaped lamps positioned randomly around the room, each holding large glowing white balls which gave the room a light and friendly feel. There was a glass coffee table in between two of the largest sofas upon which rested four mugs of cocoa.

"Andrew, I am not going to ask you to talk about your ordeal, as I'd imagine my own imagination can fill in the blanks there." Remus began gently. All three watched as Andrews's shoulders relaxed slightly, "Instead I'm just going to start by telling you a little about werewolves that most non-werewolves do not know. Firstly, I will begin with clans. In most cases these days, werewolf bights are accidental. A werewolf who has not been supplied with the wolfsbane potion or kept locked away will occasionally attack a human. Because of this, the werewolf responsible usually seeks out the new cub as they are known to both apologize and offer assistance. The new werewolf is then brought to meet the other werewolf's clan. This is a group of what could be termed pack members who try to stay together when possible during the full moon. All members of the clan are available to help the cub with any issues they may have."

Both Harry and Joseph leaned forward, soaking up the information they may never again have the opportunity to hear. They watched as Andrew's eyes first filled with hope and then saw it die as the boy sunk lower in his chair, tears threatening to spill.

"Now, in some cases, the original werewolf is not such a nice person and changes a person simply for the pleasure they will receive from it." Remus began as kindly as he could, "In these cases, the cub is often left to fend for him or herself. This is not a fun time for the new werewolf, but there are ways around it. A werewolf can have a mentor who helps them through the rough patches near the start of their ordeal. The mentor, if they are a member of a clan, may introduce the cub to the clan as their own. For mentors who themselves were not bitten through an accident, there are sort of substitute clans, made up of werewolves who were unable to join a real one. These clans hold no power in werewolf law, but they do make a good support basis for many to rely on." Andrew had, by this point, begun to sit up once more.

"Remus that was wonderfully kind of you." Harry thanked the man as he walked with him back up to Dumbledore's office.

"I could have never forgiven myself if I had just left him like that Harry. It would be far too cruel." Remus said, looking fairly distraught after his long, rather revealing session with the newer werewolf.

"Can I ask you something Remmy?" The werewolf nodded, "Near the beginning, when you were talking about clans, which sort do you belong to?"

"I belong to an official clan Harry, while the wolf that bit me did not care, I did receive a mentor who brought me to his clan and made me a full pack member. If Andrew becomes my cub, I am allowed to bring him to the clan as well, but it must be two days before a full moon." Remus explained.

"Alright, and that visitor you spoke of to Dumbledore?"

"That I cannot talk about, or I would be violating a direct vow." Remus sighed.

"That's okay Remus. By the way, are you still willing to play your part in my plans?" Harry queried.

"Is this really the best place to talk about it?" Remus asked, looking around warily as they came closer to Dumbledore's office.

"I have silencing charms up." Harry justified himself, "Well?"

"I have not changed my mind Harry. I will talk to you about it in greater detail at a later date. Right now, let us talk about my next visit to Andrew. I should like to come at least three times a week so, if Dumbledore okays it, perhaps I will see you again in two or three days?"

"Sure Remus, Andrew will most likely be pleased with that." Harry said and gave Remus a hug, "I'll leave you here Remmy. I don't wish to be alone with Dumbledore in his office after you leave. _Blood Pop's_." He said to the gargoyle, "Enjoy the rest of your evening Remus."

"You too Harry." Remus said.

"Oh, don't worry I will. I'm giving Ginny a tour of Haven."

"Of what?"

"Never you mind Mister." Harry said, tapping the side of his nose.

"Damn you can be exasperating sometimes Harry."

"It's part of my charm. Women everywhere learn to be annoyed by me. Virgins weep over my constant misleading allusions. Men yearn to be as inconsiderately irritating as I." Harry stated, hand on heart.

"Drama Queen."

"Only for you my dear pseudo-Godfather."

"_Gee_ I feel _privileged_."

"So you should."

**- - - - -**

So what do you think? Please leave really long reviews, preferably with over 2000 words. That would be nice. I did a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter but most of it should be pretty easy to guess. I think it is fairly obvious who Remus' visitor/guest is, but I wrote it so I may be bias.

Another thing... in case you didn't notice, Patrick did not personally feature in this chapter in any way other then a mention via Joseph's actions. Please don't kill me! I kept getting reviews saying he was annoying and to cut him out so for now, he loses his starring role. I may bring him back if this has upset too many people though.

That is all I feel I need to say right now so;

Signing off,

Semmy.


	9. Le Resbolosa

**Authors Note:** No stats to show this time. Drat. Now my Authors Notes seem really short. Well… they do to me anyway. I'm sure the rest of you are probably glad. As it is; I get to put a warning in! Yay! Now… how shall I put this? Okay, here goes nothing:

**Warning:** This story will now contain **slash**. If you couldn't figure that out yourself after the note in the summary and the poll results in the last chapter then you probably aren't old enough to be reading this story anymore anyway.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the patented victim of J.K Rowling. She dresses him in leather and shows him off at parties. She keeps him chained in her bedroom closet and feeds him strawberry shortcake. She keeps him clean though; sponge baths are always fun. She loans him to her friends and lets them pick out his outfits each day. She holds him close at night as her own personal bed-bug repellent. She sometimes does swapsies with her friend Leigh Eddings and trades him with Garion (the 16 year old not the thirty something year old).

(I can't be bothered lengthening my disclaimer anymore) (It's now the longest pre-chapter message anyway so I really don't think I need to)

* * *

This chapter was beta-ed by the lovely NATWEST. 

**Chapter 9**

I think the Army should develop a fleet of nuclear-powered attack unicycles, because nobody's ever going to be intimidated by a bunch of guys on unicycles. In fact, they'll probably think it's funny. And then, when their guard's down, BOOM! We strike! It might also help if the soldiers juggled Fred Meyer

5th of September

When Harry had first come up with the idea for Haven, he had had no idea of how large a project it was going to become. It was actually something he had come up with as a young child of about eight or nine. At this stage, he had finally realized that his own childhood was not entirely normal and had decided that no other child should have to feel the way he did a lot of the time. While he still downplayed the seriousness of his own situation, he understood that it was bad and could be worse and thus was willing to do anything to prevent that from happening to others. This was probably the origin of his hero complex.

He had decided that in order to prevent these circumstances, the affected people would have to be separated from the afflicters. He realized that they could all help each other and thus he came up with Haven, a place designed to house all those who really needed refuge. Over the past few months, it had also been decided upon as a rather nice place to house a large semi-evil army, but that was not its base purpose.

The initial and fundamental Haven was born one evening in his cupboard on a piece of scrap paper with a lead pencil from his school bag. It was originally a large empty hall with lots of comfortable beds, lots of books, a multi coloured pile labeled "food", and a big scribble listed simply as "TV". He had figured out that since TV entertained Dudley, it must have some decent qualities and had thus been prepared to supply several hundred of them. Ah, the simplicity of a child's mind.

Over the years, as Harry grew to understand the horrors that were his life and the lives of those he encountered, the design had become both more realistic and, as a result, more complex. More rooms, more amenities (some magical, some muggle), and more provisions for difference in circumstance had been included. The final blue print as it became was several stories, with structural planning, storage areas, training rooms, sleeping quarters and Merlin knows what else. Considering the amount of detail he had put into it, he was surprised at how quickly he had been able to get it up and running.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Only a week and a half before school started again and Harry had managed to slip away from his watchers… sorry his "friends", and get out of the castle. He then pulled out his wand, now free from Ministry and Dumbledorian monitoring charms and summoned to him the sports car he'd had waiting. Not just any muggle sports car, but a Lamborghini … with magical benefits of course. Due to this new acquisition, it had taken Harry only forty-five minutes to drive to his destination, some one thousand, one hundred kilometers away (following the roads, that's roughly the distance) _(**1**)_. Like I said; Lamborghini with magical benefits. What more could a hormone driven teenager want in life? Harry had purchased the car using only a small portion of what was in his trust fund. It was truly amazing to him how much money people sent to the "Harry Potter cause" as he liked to refer to it._

_Ginny, while researching financial opportunities had requested form Harry a copy of his own financial banking records so she could determine their budget. Upon writing to Gringotts for said statements, Harry had been pleasantly surprised with what he received in reply._

_According to the Gringotts statements he had gotten a hold of over the summer, people had this weird tendency to show their thanks for his original defeat of Voldemort by sending small portions of their own savings every now and then. Now… let's say, one person decides that he really should do something for Harry Potter and sends in, oh maybe ten galleons? And then, a few months later, they do it again. Now, times this by thirteen and a half years (from age one until when people first started thinking he was crazy), and then multiply it by the population of all of magical Britain. Add that to the amount Harry's parents had left him, don't forget the guilt bonus people had sent after the Ministry finally admitted that he-who's-name-you've-probably-forgotten had returned; and you have yourself one insanely rich Golden Boy. The pissy thing was that Dumbledore also knew about Harry's unintentional income and was monitoring cash flow which meant not much could be taken until Harry revealed his disloyalty. Harry managed to manipulate his records however so that his new car simply went down to tax, thus removing suspicion._

_For weeks Harry and Ginny had poured over several magical and non magical atlases, trying to find a good base for his head quarters with no luck. They had looked at Paris, Tokyo, Delphi, Cape York, even Waco when they were getting truly desperate. In the end it had actually been Hermione who found what they were looking for, albeit unwittingly. After having almost all of her research discarded with barely a glance, she had become slightly disgruntled with the whole situation, particularly since she was not actually sure what they were looking for. She had made the rather put out comment of _

"_Since you two are so sure of yourselves, I'll just leave you to your amateur research. Honestly, you are obviously interested in muggle based magical locations so why on earth haven't you looked through the Hufflepuff collection? Really, I know you don't want my help in this because you're afraid I'll get the credit for what you discover simply because I'm usually termed as the smart one, but you must get past this jealousy and learn when to ask for help."_

_Considering that Hermione had just given them the only information they could possibly need from her, he sensibly decided that her help would not be required… but they did go directly to the Hufflepuff collection as soon as they found an opportunity._

_On a side note here, Harry could not help but notice how staged Hermione's comment had been. No one could actually be that full of themselves. It was almost Ginny like, what with the whole "feigned ignorance" but actually showing him exactly where to look. Of course, Ginny actually seemed like a human rather then some weird alien life form which feeds off good grades. And so perhaps, Hermione really was that full of herself. Either way, she could not possibly know they had used her point of reference or which location they had thus selected from it so it really did not matter._

_The Hufflepuff collection was actually begun by Helga Hufflepuff. After the rift between Slytherin and the other founders, Helga had begun listing and occasionally personally creating locations where magic and muggle ideologies could work in peace. This did not mean that in these areas the muggles knew all about magic as that would be too hard to isolate. It meant that these were locations where there was inbuilt magic in the actual location, embedded in the earth of the place itself. These sites however had first been developed upon by muggles. Helga Hufflepuff had meant these sites to be places for muggleborns to easily work on their magic without losing hold of their connections to their original societies. Nowadays, they made perfect locations for command centres for semi-dark Golden Boys. _

_Harry had selected a location in Northern Italy _(**2.**)_ in an area that had once housed a medieval village but was now taken up by bare hills and deep forests. Once Harry and his super cool car arrived to the closest point they could reach, Harry got out of his car and walked away from the thin gravel road into the forest. He made his way purposefully through the undergrowth before the ground began to slop upward. The trees cleared and Harry found himself roughly a quarter of the way up a large hill, green and perfect in its simplicity._

_Harry sat lotus-style upon the soft grass. Closing his eyes he looked deep within himself, searching for that hidden power, the core of his being that made him the person he was. Looking past rushing, overwhelming hollows within him, he soon found it, a pure egg of white light, pulsing gently, giving off an aura of unstoppable energy. Very carefully, Harry slowly separated some of the mass, pulling it away in four thin strands. He then directed himself and the tremulous threads through his memories, sifting through for the one he wanted. Finding it, he quickly thrust both the memory and the filaments of his core into the ground beneath him. He was flung backward and down the slope and the ground began to convulse, shifting and pulsing beneath his feet. Turning, Harry made the true Gryffindor move of running for his life back into the forest. _

_Waiting several minutes, he finally felt the terrain stop its movements and cautiously made his way back up the slope. _

_Slightly further down from where he had sat, was a large deep blue arched door. It was embedded into the steepest portion of the slope, with a small, flat, gravel area in front of it. The door was clearly wooden, steel enforced on the inside, with a complicated locking device and, if it had worked the way he intended, could not at this moment be seen by anyone other then himself. Well, at the time, it could only be seen by him. Now, Haven's entrance could be seen by anyone Harry trusted to see it. _

_End of Flashback_

_

* * *

"Harry, your car is __awesome_!" "Harry, your car is !" 

"Why thank-you Ginny. Its good to know my work is appreciated." Harry said with a grin as they took yet another high speed corner, "We've got about another five minutes, then a ten minute walk and we're there."

It was roughly ten pm and, after a laughably easy exit from the castle (Harry had bribed Peeves to spend the evening causing as much trouble as possible and thus every teacher and most prefects were occupied) and a quick run to the closest muggle road, Harry had now been driving for roughly thirty five minutes. While Harry did enjoy driving his car, he was not foolish and did realize that this was not the most sensible method of transportation since many of those who would need to travel with him had never been in a car in their lives. Ginny however had been exposed to the joys of fuel guzzling, world destroying automobiles and knew how to appreciate them… particularly since Harry's ran on magic, using no fuel, and was designed to be fairly impossible to crash.

Ginny was fairly quiet along the walk to the entrance, instead memorizing the location so that she could find it herself on a later date. Harry led her on a weaving path through the thick forest, and, only minutes later, they were at the door.

"Now, the trick for this one is similar to the way Gringotts operates its high security vaults." Harry explained, "But, since we all know Gringotts is not completely infallible, I also included a variation on a muggle fingerprint scanner. If I run my ring finger down _here_," He demonstrated, "Before holding it _here_, the door checks it with its own inbuilt database-"

"It's what?"

"Muggle terminology, where it stores the information I've given it. As I was saying, it checks to see if I am me, using both my fingerprint and the magical scan it achieved from that strip of metal I ran my finger along, and then, if this is all okayed it swings open, like so, and in we go." Harry offered Ginny his arm.

She accepted it and they made their way down the now revealed corridor, twisting and turning so many times that Ginny could not have pointed north if she'd been born a compass. The corridor itself was rather ominous with a dirt floor and dug out earthen walls, it was uncomfortably cold, stifled with its own silence. All in all, it looked like some sort of cheesy muggle horror movie.

"Ah, Harry?"

"Yes Ginny?"

"Can I have my arm back please? You're kind of pulling on it."

Harry relinquished his prize and Ginny rubbed her elbow.

"I pity the poor person you end up dating Harry, you sort of lack several gentlemanly skills." She commented dryly.

"Oh my most sincere of apologies fair lady. With the tumultuous events of the past few days, I am afraid I quite forgot myself. Please bestow upon me an opportunity to make it up to you my dear." Harry gasped out, looking decidedly horrified at his supposed ungentlemanly behavior.

"Why of course good sir. Think nothing of it. You may take my arm again if you so chose in an effort to show me your true nature. I fear however that your stature may prevent you from comfortably complying with this as you are a fair foot taller than I." Ginny replied with a worried look.

"Never fear sweet maiden for I shall walk upon bended knee so as to greater harmonize myself with your needs." Harry cried dramatically, dropping to his knees and waddling beside her in a moderately ridiculous fashion.

The pair continued only a few meters in this fashion before Ginny, now bent at the waist to accommodate for her escorts new height deficiency, turned to face him, eyebrows raised with amusement.

"You know Harry, when I imagined you down on bended knee before me as a young girl; this wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"To tell you the truth Gin," Harry began, "I wasn't ever imagining this scene occurring between us."

Harry got back up on his own two feet and the two continued along their path.

The path continued only a little further before earthen steps were in front of them, leading down towards a large steel door. Upon the door was an intricate carving displaying a forest scene with hundreds of magical and non magical animals, moving about in a giant battle. At first glance, Ginny could see lions, griffins, a pair of fawns, several snakes, a phoenix fought off two large wolves, and near the bottom, a dragon lurked, attacking any creature which strayed too close to it before returning to its rest. At their approach, a small snake near the middle of the image turned from its battle with a proud hippogriff.

_greetingsss masssster_ it hissed at him as its opponent took flight and soared over to where one of its brethren was attacking an acromantula.

_greetings Suki_ Harry replied _this is my ssssecond. She is allowed full access to all areas whether or not I am present_

_if she knowssss the passssword_

_naturally little one, the others are still only allowed through to the main areas unless I am here_

_I shall remember masssster_ the little snake hissed, bowing its head _when will the firssst onessss arrive_

_three days Suki_

_I will be expecting them_ Suki hissed as Ginny watched the carving in fascination.

"Careful Ginny," Harry said in English, startling the red-head slightly, "It's designed to be captivating. One could spend hours staring at it without even realizing that time had passed." Ginny's eyes widened and Harry smiled slightly, "One of my greater ideas I do think. This is Suki."

"Charmed." Ginny murmured automatically before realizing the snake could not possibly understand her.

"Suki is Haven's guardian." Harry said with a grin, "She will only let people in who know the password, regardless of the fact that they have gotten this far. She will however understand basic words of English and she is the only participant in the scene before you that has the ability to gain a mortal form. She is thus able to carry word of anyone who approaches and does not know the password to wherever I am if I am within Haven. For example; she can recognize Aurors, Death Eaters, and Order members. She also knows words such as message, spy, attack, capture, kill, surrender, and many others that may be dropped to give a clue of a visitor's intention before they are captivated by the carving. And, of course, she will be taught each password as they are changed. I have told her you are to have full access which means after saying the password here, every door within Haven will open on your approach. You will also have the ability to change the password. To do that, after saying the current one, just reach out and touch her, then, with your finger still in contact state the new phrase. For now, I am using quotes from assorted texts and speeches. There are assorted other things you will be allowed to do but I will get to them as they come."

"Alright then, how will she know it's me and not someone using polyjuice or similar?"

"Remember the magic and finger print scanners on the first door? As soon as that is done, your movements are tracked down the corridor so that they know no-one used you at the start and then swapped. Thus, Suki already knows when we are coming." Harry explained.

"Good. So what is the current password?"

"Ah, this one was Winston Churchill." Turning directly to Suki, Harry spoke the words in a clear and concise manner, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

"Nice choice."

"Thanks Gin. It'll be changed again in three days when Haven starts being used and from then on, it will change at least once a week if not more. Once it is in full use, the password will change twice a day."

"Okay then. Shall we enter?"

"Certainly."

Together they stepped through the now opened doorway and instantly it slammed shut behind them.

"Welcome to my underground lair." Harry said, tapping his fingers together and wiggling his eyebrows. Now all he needed was an evil laugh and the effect would be complete.

Ginny glanced around looking surprised. After the passageway approaching the carved door, she had been expecting darkened mysterious rooms, lit only by flaming troches, held up by iron fastenings. Instead she now viewed a long, thin and decidedly straight corridor with many open archways leading off of it. The floor was paved with glossy white tiles, the walls were strait and solid, painted light yellow with a beam of wood running along the top of it, ducking in at the top of each doorway and appearing again on the other side. The wooden beam jutted out slightly and a bright glow came from above it. Reaching up, Ginny grasped the beam and felt the shallow indent on the upper side of it. In the indent was a thin, gel-like substance that glowed pale blue, almost white on her finger tips when she pulled them away.

"That's what lights this place up." Harry informed her, "That shelf runs through every room in here, entering through every arch. All doors are designed to close around it without constriction. The stuff which is now evaporating off of your fingers has been charmed to glow and, when surrounding a room, the glow will brighten or dim in order to light it up to the occupants' desires. It will however evaporate and lose the charm when heated even minutely as is happening from your body heat. So therefore, since you will not be able to produce any real flame inside Haven, except in the kitchen of course, and all magical lighting spells will fail instantly, if attackers ever get this far, all we have to do is turn off the air con and they won't be able to see where the hell they're going, leaving us free to pick them off one by one."

"Sound perfect, er… air con?"

"It was a figure of speech; turn off the air con, heat things up a little. Didn't your father teach you about air conditioning?"

"Well he did, but _he_ called it air confuser and was never quite sure _what_ it was intended to do." Ginny explained.

"… Riiight. Anyway, I should probably explain what Haven comprises of at this stage. Everything is basically constricted to one level, although we may expand deeper underground in future times. There are three large halls for assorted use, along with two training halls, four smaller training rooms, and a library. There are also twelve studies for people other then those in the up and coming 'inner circle' along with some classrooms, an armory, a heap of dormitories and common rooms, with a maximum of six dorms to a common, and kitchens (one main one for house-elves and people to prepare meals for the group at large, and smaller kitchens off of each common room). There are also ten private bedrooms each with a personal bathroom, and of course, private quarters for yourself and I. Each main room can be accessed along this corridor but some branch off from each of those, such as the dorms from the five common rooms. The final two doors before the large one that closes off the end of the corridor lead to our private quarters. Yours is on the right, mine is on the left. They are both pretty much the same so I'll show you yours now."

"Er, before we do, what's through the big steel door down the end?"

"Cells. They're fairly tame, no screaming ghosts or blood stained torture devices, but they still aren't a place I'd send children towards."

The pair made their way down the brightly lit passage, shoes clacking on the shiny tiles beneath them. Harry occasionally stopped Ginny to show her something unique but they made fairly good time. They reached the two doors Harry had spoken of and as they turned to face the one on the right, it swung open for them. Harry assured Ginny that that would only happen for the two of them and anyone else would have to knock. He then went on to explain that the doors to all bedrooms, classrooms, dorms, bathrooms, and studies could also lock for their inhabitants but that Ginny and Harry would be able to open them fairly easily if need be.

Ginny stepped through into a large study. The room was well lit and cheerful, with soft-wood floors and brightly colored rugs. The walls were cream coloured, which set off the cherry-wood furnishings perfectly. There was a large desk in the rear centre of the room, with a comfortable high backed chair behind it and several empty shelving units. To the left of the desk was another door, still closed. There were two chairs before the desk and to one side; Ginny noticed a smaller table holding what she recognized to be a muggle computer.

"The computer is connected to the internet or intranet as it is in this case, I believe I explained that to you over the summer. Sorry I didn't have time to stock the book shelves but I'll get to that when I'm doing the library." Harry rubbed the back of his head ruefully, looking slightly nervous while he waited to hear what she thought, "Or you can select some yourself, whatever."

"It's amazing Harry, thank-you." Ginny said honestly.

Harry beamed; he'd actually been a trifle anxious about this since Ginny would be stuck with this area for Merlin knows how long.

"Well then, allow me to show you your suite Miss Weasley." Harry practically bounced across the room to the other door and, pulling it open, bowed low at her approach.

"Idiot." Ginny said, almost fondly as she passed through, causing Harry to grin again.

The door opened into a small living area.

Harry had decorated the other rooms in much the same way as the study, cream walls, cherry-wood furnishings and trimmings, and pale green upholstery. The living room consisted of several sofas and armchairs, a large table with four dining chairs around it, a book shelf, and a sideboard. To one side, a breakfast bench separated the room from a small kitchen and two doors graced the wall to their right.

A smiling Ginny approached the first door and saw it was just the bathroom, consisting of marble tiles and bench tops, with blue tinted glass for the shower walls. There was also a large spa bath which no second in command should have to go without. Ginny closed the door again, still looking pleased and opened the second which she rightly assumed led to the bedroom. The bedroom was done up in the same colours, with a walk in robe, a dresser, and a queen-sized bed with, (surprise, surprise) a pale green duvet. Once again, Ginny looked incredibly pleased.

"It's perfect Harry, thank-you again."

"Eh, no biggy. Mine is pretty much the same as yours except with different colours. If you want to come back to the living room, I think we should probably use this private time to go over the plan for the eighth of this month."

* * *

6th of September 

About three weeks ago, Harry had first started working on the final portion of the Hogwarts plan. Of course, at the time it wasn't _called_ the Hogwarts plan, but it had been renamed last night by Ginny because it got too confusing to just say "the plan" when there were a hell of a lot of them.

It had not taken long for Harry to figure out that Dumbledore received his reputation as an unstoppable leader and kind mentor through two things. Firstly, his support of Harry even through last year when people thought he was crazy, which at the time had not assisted the aging gentleman, but was now earning him a great deal of good publicity, and secondly, his ability to keep the British wizarding children safe at Hogwarts. Forget the fact that there are mountain trolls rampaging in the dungeons or basilisks in the hot water system, Hogwarts has _always_ been safe for the children when Dumbledore is there. Even after Cedric's unfortunate demise Dumbledore still appeared the wise and all-knowing leader of the light side. And so, Harry figured, the key was with the youth of today… as corny as that sounded.

Harry was not fond of the idea of killing off teenagers just so Dumbledore would lose face in the eyes of the public, nor did the thought of causing them serious injury make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So instead… he was going to kidnap them. Seriously.

Harry's minions were even now preparing for their dramatic struggles with an unseen enemy before they would be swept away to some evil fortress where their kidnappers would laugh evilly and run around in circles like over enthusiastic toddlers. Or in reality, they were preparing to trash their dorms, get to Hogsmeade, grab the portkeys provided, go to Haven, pick a bed in one of the dorms, and give each other high fives all around about how absolutely perfectly they pulled off their plans.

Harry planned for the first four to leave on the 8th of this month. Naturally, he would not be removing _all_ his minions from Hogwarts, or even most of them. He would take four of them once a week for five weeks, thus hopefully causing the public to put some doubt in Dumbledore's supposed greatness.

A lot of detail went into this part of the plan. They could not take anyone who would become too distraught at the lack of contact with their family which put a lot of first years out of the question, and none of the families could be powerful enough to be capable of figuring out who was really responsible for their child's disappearance, which meant almost all pure bloods were not an option. It would be nice if the family could be informed of the child's whereabouts but that of course would be a risk if Dumbledore ever decided to question the family. The man was like a walking human lie detector. While most of these would be problematic, they also could not only send people who's families wouldn't care about the loss because if their families didn't care, the public would not get too upset and thus the whole point of leaving this way would be nullified. Unless of course they were muggleborns in which case it would be best if the parents didn't care since Dumbledore was supposedly renowned for how he treated charity cases and since they were not trying to get blood purists to sympathize, that could work.

So basically the only person who fitted to what they wanted _perfectly_ was Ginny and she couldn't just disappear once a week for five weeks because eventually people would start to wonder why her kidnappers kept letting her go. Surely they couldn't be _that_ worried about her missing classes? They were _kidnappers_ for Merlin's sake! Several others came close but would have to have some organizing done to get the right results. He knew that some of them would probably fit into the necessary categories, but he did not know which of them would. So, for now, he had decided to simply watch the way his minions fitted in within Hogwarts society and make the decision from there.

And, since he had a _lot_ of minions, he enlisted some help.

And so it was that on the morning of the 6th of September, the students of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry arrived at breakfast in the Great Hall, to find themselves under scrutiny from Orla Quirke, Victoria Gospel, Bae Soo, Cindy Ross, Ivan Noschelstein, and Luna Lovegood, all positioned around the walls of the hall with parchment in hand, scribbling furiously. While the teachers simply watched the activity of the six Ravenclaws, the other students just shrugged and ignored them.

"Ah, Harry? You do realize that six of your minions are conducting an observational study on us?" Dean asked the other boy cautiously.

"Yes Dean, I told them to."

"Okaaay. Wouldn't it be best if they were just a _little_ less obvious about it?"

"Dean," Harry set aside the essay he was proof-reading for Tilly Rollin and turned to face his fellow Gryffindor, "They're _Ravenclaws_. No one pays attention when a Ravenclaw starts collecting data, it's too common an occurrence."

"… Eh, works for me." Dean returned to his breakfast, keeping one eye on Cindy, a first year who had come over to stand beside him, ticking off on her parchment every time he took a bite.

"Oh Dean, how do you and Hamish get along with your parents?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Really well actually, I owl them at least every three days." Dean replied, looking confused.

"Drat."

"Well _gee_ sooorryyyy for trying to have a decent home life." Dean said.

"Oh I didn't mean it like that and you know it."

"Yeah. But it is so much _fun_ to take offense to everything you say."

"Well isn't _that_ just charming."

"I thought so."

"Yes I know that but… oh for Merlin's sake, why can't they just leave me alone?" Harry almost shouted in exasperation, flinging his arm out and whacking Cindy who jumped back with a yelp, glared at him, and then turned to stare at a nearby third year.

Dean turned and saw Ron and Hermione making their way towards them. This was a fairly usual occurrence at breakfast lately.

"Good luck Harry, I'm just going to… ah… wash my hair, yeah that's what I'm going to do; I'll be washing my hair… so… I'll see you later." Dean said, stumbling over his words in his haste to get clear of the area.

"Dean, you already took a shower this morning." Harry said flatly.

"Well… yeah but… don't you take second showers each morning? Jeez Harry, learn some hygiene practices already."

"Dean, you cannot leave me with these two. Please I'm _begging_ you! Ginny's not here so I don't have an excuse for cutting them short."

"Nope I… oh come _on_ Harry, don't give me that look, I… I don't want to… its not my job… you really should… oh _fine_ I'll stay."

"Heh, heh, heh, the puppy dog eyes win again."

"Shut up Harry, I'm trying to retain dignity, something I'm sure you lost all contact with a long time ago."

"True, oh so true."

"Harry mate, where were you and Ginny last night? Me and 'Mione were looking for you both."

"Sorry Ron, I took Ginny out for a walk so we could have some time to ourselves." Harry apologized.

"Oh Harry, you should know better then to be out at that time of night by yourselves, remember You-Know-Who is back now." Hermione scolded.

"_No_ really? You're joking. He's actually back?" Dean gasped out, looking truly horrified, "Sweet Merlin! What are we going to do Harry? You must save us with your Super Harry Powers (**3.**)! Oh my goodness! What if he's coming right now? Oh quick Harry _help_! _Help_! _HELP_!"

"Dean," Harry murmured under his breath as Ron and Hermione turned to glare at the boy, "As much as I appreciate the humor, would you mind keeping it down a little? I really don't need anymore attention from the Head table."

"Really Dean, _must_ you be so foolish? This is a serious matter, not something to joke over."

Dean rolled his eyes at her.

"Yes Hermione I _know_. I believe that is the point I was trying to make. I know. Harry knows. We all _know_ what is going on and as such I am absolutely _sure_ Harry took precautions during his little midnight stroll."

"Harry?"

"I did Hermione, we stayed in the building and I had monitoring charms up." Harry confirmed.

"Oh. Well I guess that's okay. But still, we were looking for you. Honestly, we've barely seen you lately."

"'Mione, it's only the sixth day of term. I've seen you every day since the start of August. You can hardly say that doesn't count for anything."

"Well, I suppose so."

"Look mate," Ron cut in, "Tomorrow's Saturday, how about we meet up then and go visit Hagrid? You barely talk to him in COMC anymore and I'm sure he misses you. He wasn't here during the hols so we didn't see him then either. How about it mate?"

"Well, I have to do homework so I may not have time."

"Oh Harry, you _never_ do homework, why are you making excuses?"

Harry nudged Dean with his foot under the table and the boy gave a slight nod in reply.

"How about we meet up-" Harry started before Dean cut in.

"_HAAARRYYY_ you _promised_ you'd help me with that project in Transfiguration!" Dean cried out, "You can't leave me alone all Saturday! I'll get _looonelyyy_! Please don't leave me alone Harry, the voices will come back. I don't like the voices Harry! _Pleeeeease_!" The boy began sobbing onto Harry's shoulder and pawing on his robes.

"O-okay Harry, it looks like you'll have your hands full all Saturday." Hermione stuttered as she and Ron began backing away from the now wailing Dean, "So… we'll see you in COMC, bye now."

After watching the two leave the hall at a very hurried pace, Harry turned, _very_ unimpressed towards Dean who was now sitting up straight in his seat and calmly eating his muesli.

"You know Dean," Harry began dryly and Dean tipped his head to show he was listening, "When I cued for an excuse, I was not asking for a Patrick impression."

"I HEARD THAT HARRY!" came a yell from across at the Hufflepuff table.

"Does that kid have bat ears or something?" Dean muttered before turning calmly to face Harry, "Look, you used the evil puppy eyes to get me to stay here, so you will now have to deal with the fact that they think I am crazy and that you are my therapist or something. Now if you'll excuse me, I must return to my breakfast."

"Dean, I am not finished here. I am trying to cross examine all of your actions; will you please have the decency to _attempt_ to create some sort of lame excuse? What exactly was the point of telling them you heard voices?"

"I was attempting floccinaucinihilipilification."

"What does that have to do with hearing voices?"

"I believe there is a monster hiding underneath my bed."

"Whatever. I can't believe you had to bury your head on my shoulder. You've gotten my shirt all rumpled and everything. What were you trying to do?"

"I was the object of an international land and sea search."

"Oookaaay then. Could you at least have the decency to look ashamed?"

"I was kidnapped by the Borg and reliably informed that resistance was futile."

"What are you even talking about Dean? And what was the point of pissing off Hermione earlier with your little _we know_ rant?"

"I was practicing breathing underwater and forgot which way was up."

"… ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO MY MOST WONDERFUL RANT OR ARE YOU JUST RANDOMLY SPURTING OUT EXCUSES?"

"Oh sweet Merlin… I… I… I don't remember who I am."

* * *

WDYT? Dean will not always act this childish, there is a reason to his actions at the moment (the obvious one being it was a really easy way to get rid of Ron and Hermione, the not so obvious one… I'll let you figure that one out yourselves). 

QUICK QUESTION: What colour hair does Dean have?

In case you have not read the message in my profile, this is the last update until after the 28th because I have my final assessment period for the school year in the coming week and I need to concentrate. Sorry about that.

The first chapter of the as yet unnamed HPDG has been written… just so's you know.

**1.** If twelve year old Ronald Weasley can manage a flying car all the way across Britain without crashing (I'm listing the Whomping Willow crash as "destiny" so it doesn't count) then a sixteen year old _Harry_ _Potter_ can drive a non flying one at high speed across Europe with no problems, I do not care what the legal driving age is in Britain. This is just my opinion… feel free to disagree, but it won't change the fact that he's just done it.

**2. **I have selected this area because I have been there, I know a bit about the culture, and I can _basically_ speak the language. If anyone who is really from near here wishes to send me more information about it, it would be most welcome because I am not a local and by no means an expert on Italy.

**3.** Super Harry Powers are different from Super Moony Powers in that these ones are used for defeating evil Dark Lords rather than for psychically knowing what people on the other side of a castle are saying or being able to spot parselmouths at first glance. (If, you do not understand the point of this footnote, then do not worry because it is not really important anyway.

**LOST**

-One Fan Fiction

-Written in the style of LJ's from Harry's first year onward. Last I saw, it was just up to his second year. Written from many people's perspectives including Oliver Wood, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and I think Dobby recently.

-If found (or something similar which would be equally enjoyable), please send the Story Title and Penname to me (semmy) in a review or PM.

**-Reward:** I don't know… I guess you could name a character, or pick two of the people who are going to Haven (within reason), OH and cyber cookies! There will of course be cyber cookies.


	10. Soltarlo

Authors Note: I am really sorry about the huge delay everyone, I had a block. I knew exactly what I wanted to cover but I just could find the words to do it in. As it is, I would like to thank crazysquirl for sending in my 200th review. Oh, and Replay only has four chapters left so I will soon have that finished and thus will be spending more time on this story and Bedlamite (thank-you to all of you who made the effort to check that out and drop a review).

* * *

Chapter 10

"_You can have power over people as long as you don't take everything from them. But when you've robbed them of everything, he is no longer in your power." - Aleskandor I. Solzhenitsyn_

6th of September

"Hey Dean, hey Harry." Ginny greeted both boys with a smile as she sat down next to them, placing her copy of _the book_ on the table in front of her.

"Hi Gin." Dean replied with a smile, pulling out his time table to check what he had first.

"Er… hello Harry." Ginny repeated as said boy simply continued eating without looking up, "Um, Dean?"

"Mmm?"

"Have I done something wrong? I appear to be being ignored."

"Huh? Oh," Dean grinned, "Harry is sulking because I refused to take his rant seriously and have given Hermione, Ron, and our esteemed headmaster probably cause to believe I am completely bonkers."

"… Well that explains it then." Ginny said with a nod, "Sorry I was late for breakfast; I was talking to some of the elder Miss Greengrass' followers. She apparently hinted they should talk to me if they wanted to join you. I've added them to the list of followers in the book. They consisted of three third years and two fourth years so they didn't need a copy of it though."

"That's nice."

"Oh don't pretend to care Dean."

"But… I _do_ care, just not as much as you do."

"Look, I don't ask for much," Harry interrupted them, "I don't require you to get tattoos or throw your lives aside or spend twelve years in Azkaban so personally I think I'm a fairly relaxed leader. But I do require just a _little_ respect from you. Every once in a while it would be _nice_ if you could just humour me on some things."

"… Okay sure thing Harry." Dean grinned at him before grabbing his bag and heading off to his first class of the day.

"I swear that boy is going to be the death of me." Harry muttered under his breath drawing a laugh from Ginny.

"I'd guess he heard you say that Harry." She cautioned.

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

"Oh, maybe the fact that he's sashaying all the way to the doors, humming _The Song that Gets on you Nerves_, and has charmed his robes inside out?"

"… Okay, I get the last two as his way of vocally representing my last comment and a reference to the whole 'crazy' thing… but what point is he trying to prove by walking like that?"

"Possibly trying to enlighten me to the way you can't take your eyes off his arse when he walks like that."

"I was not checking him out!"

"Riiiiiight." Ginny replied sceptically, "I'll see you later Harry."

"GET BACK HERE MISSY! …Aw crap, now she's doing it too."

* * *

8th of September 

As the sun rose on the morning of the first kidnapping, five people had already been awake for hours in a complete mess of nerves. The first was Naomi Watts, a Hufflepuff third year. She had been the first person selected after Harry had found out that she was the niece of Fudge's wife. She had never gotten along with her uncle and he personally tried to avoid her unless his wife made him, but he would be forced to look distraught and start delegating blame if something did happen to her. He wouldn't _look_ for her though which made her the perfect candidate for the dubious honour of being kidnapping victim number one. She was the least nervous out of the whole group since she was going to meet her "abductors" at the edge of the forbidden forest which made getting to Hogsmeade a whole lot easier for her then for some of the others. This change in the plan had occurred after Ginny had finally convinced Harry that it was too difficult to sneak everyone out of dorm rooms without alerting someone and getting the castle locked down.

The second new insomniac was Bae Soo, a second year Ravenclaw girl from an old Korean family. Her family lost all power a few generations ago but they remained very prominent amongst wizarding socialites. They would create the necessary public distress that Harry required and Bae herself would not miss them too terribly since, as the second youngest and… let's say least pretty, she had never been truly doted on and had no monetary value of any great significance within their family. She would spend the day talking about how nervous she had been as of late since she kept thinking someone was watching her and would then make the foolish but easy mistake of running off ahead of her friend to get back to the Ravenclaw common room never to be seen from again… aside from a blood stain Luna would discover near the entrance way after a few hours of searching. She was to be the disappearance Dumbledore would first hear of which would prompt the search for Naomi and the next two "victims".

The third victim was Erica Schilts, one of Daphne's crowd and the first who had approached Ginny. She would not create a huge outcry from the public as she was a Slytherin from an openly dark family, but it would alert Voldemort that someone was actually doing something in this war which would hopefully piss him off just a tad. Harry was truly trying his hardest to anonymously give himself a reputation. Erica came from an abusive family and had actually _asked_ to be one of the ones removed as soon as she had heard of the plan. Erica had the hardest role in this whole thing because not only did she have to stage her attack straight out of her dorm room, as well as now being the youngest possessor of one of the books (Harry needed to keep contact to some degree), but she was also responsible for the youngest "victim", Tilly Rollin the first year Gryffindor.

Tilly had immediately volunteered when she had heard the plan because she realized how perfectly she fitted to what Harry needed. Tilly had been orphaned when she was four years old. Her parents were muggles, well off but without any extended family. She had become one of Dumbledore's publicized charity cases after he'd "rescued" her from foster family number five. Despite this, she'd never grown particularly fond of the man, considering he'd only deigned to take her away from her temporary guardians two days before terms started and had informed her that she would have to go back during the summer as he had no where she could stay. Considering that due to the short notice she'd actually lost her place with the family and would be able to return, this really wasn't the smartest move he could have made. Informing her that she was obliged to allow him access to the money her parents had left her in order for him to fund her entrance into Hogwarts also lowered Tilly's opinion of the man but so far she had managed to keep hold of her money.

As it was, Erica was going to stage the attack then sneak out of the Slytherin domain using Harry's cloak, go past the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where Tilly would be talking with Professor Stynehope about the Expelliarmus spell, signal the younger girl, follow her down the corridor a short way, and then whisk her away via broom to the meeting point and the Portkey just on the other side of Hogsmeade.

The final early riser, or to be fair the final _two_ early risers were Harry (because he was stressed that his plan wasn't going to work and that all four would be questioned and thus alert Dumbledore) and Dean (who had been woken by Harry so that the young leader would have someone to share his woes with). Harry had been freaking out since roughly four in the morning and had not really received much comfort from Dean's first comment of "What's the worse that could happen". Since then he had alternated between pacing, casting fresh sleeping charms on the rest of the room's occupants, yelling, revising plans, and sitting next to Dean feeling a little foolish about the whole thing.

"It's really not that bad Harry," The other boy had tried at one point, "They all know their roles, none of them are on Dumbledore's radar, and none of them are particularly connected to you."

"Point." Harry acknowledged, "But if they are caught, don't you think Dumbledore will ask them who put them up to it? We both know that there is no way they are going to be able to get away with lying to the man, so as soon as he figures it out he'll come to me and I'll be questioned at great length over the whole thing."

"Well if that happens you can say it was originally a practical joke but that somewhere along the way it went horribly, horribly wrong."

"Dean, even _I_ have trouble lying effectively around that man." Harry flopped backward on Dean's bed and glared up at the world in general.

Dean looked down at the brunette lying beside him and couldn't hide a smile at the sight of him pouting. He looked amazingly childish and innocent, which was a rare feat for someone who had been through as much as Harry had.

"It's Sunday Harry." Dean said, "I'll help you work on the full story for Dumbledore in case they're caught. We've got until four thirty this afternoon when they leave so we can get it to a stage where you couldn't screw it up if the old coot stuffed you full of lemon drops and played classical music for a full two hours before starting the interrogation."

"Dean, don't mention things like that! I'll get nightmares wherein I'm drowning in a sea of lemon drops and my knight in shining armour can't hear my pleas for help over the classical music and fish burps."

"Er... fish burps?"

"Yep."

"Okay. And you have a knight in shining armour you say?"

"No. But I'd like one. They've always sounded like they would be very useful people to have around. He or she _would_ need a steed though."

"Um… back home Hamish has a pony called Muffin which I could probably borrow. Would that work for you?"

"Nope," Harry grinned up at the other boy, "I'm sorry Dean but without a stallion, you're just not knight in shining armour material."

"Oh darn. And I was so looking _forward_ to riding around the world saving your arse from seas of lemon drops."

"Sarcasm there."

"Great powers of observation Harry. You know what? With abilities like that, you should consider trying to take over the wizarding world."

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

It wasn't until roughly seven that evening when the warning tones went off throughout the castle. It was a little startling to Harry and Dean for three reasons; 

A: It meant the plan had actually worked but,

B: Dumbledore had been alerted of Bae Soo's disappearance a full forty five minutes earlier then he should have been and,

C: … Since when did Hogwarts have warning alarms? It was a vivid reminder to the pair of the rather annoying fire drills they had both been participants in when they were attending Muggle primary schools.

Over the incessant drone which went on, the amplified voice of Professor McGonagall was heard informing them that all students were required to proceed immediately to the Great Hall for a head count and questioning. The Gryffindors -being even more sheep-like then Hufflepuffs- all immediately stopped what they were doing and set off at a jog towards said location. Once they were all randomly seated along the freshly placed rows of chairs, they were joined by the rest of the students, all entering in dribs and drabs. The last to arrive were the Hufflepuff first years who informed the rest of the school (via Patrick) that they had all taken an early bedtime because someone had told them that Hermione Granger was wandering the halls and forcibly enlisting first years into S.P.E.W. Harry, who had been sure to seat himself with Ginny, Draco, Dean, and Daphne, 'low-fived' Daphne behind her chair and then joined in with the snickers of the rest of the school until Dumbledore called for silence.

"I am sorry to inform you that your fellow student Miss Bae Soo has gone missing from the school." (Cue gasps from all Hufflepuffs and first years) "We have reason to believe that this was a forcible abduction after finding scenes of a small struggle in the upper corridors near the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room."

"I noticed he didn't mention the blood." Dean murmured to Draco.

"Gee I wonder why that might be?" Draco mused sarcastically under his breath before the two were flicked on the back of the head by Ginny.

"Most of the teachers are out searching the grounds to make sure she is most certainly not here but her magical signature has not been noted as of yet." Dumbledore continued looking sombre, "To assure ourselves of the safety of all other students, we will now do a head count. The gold bowls floating near the back of the room," Everyone turned to look, "Will float through the entire hall in a pattern and register every person they pass over. They will then scroll through the school register to make sure no other students are missing and then will inform me. Please do not move from your seats so that you are not missed or counted twice. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves as this may take quite a while."

As Dumbledore stepped away from the podium the hall instantly filled with noise. Everyone had turned to the person beside them to discuss the goings on, as is practice amongst teenagers. Harry grinned and turned to face His four friends with a wicked look in his eye.

"I'd say so far so good wouldn't you?" He commented casually.

"He's got silencing charms up and an appropriate conversation playing through them." Ginny informed Draco at the blonde's worried look.

"I'm starting to think you may know me a little too well Ginny my dear." Harry pouted, "I would _hate_ to think I had become completely predictable."

"Oh no worries there," Daphne reassured him dryly, "I'm fairly certain not even _you_ are completely sure of what you are going to do next. Ginny is just psychic."

"Psyc_hotic_." Ginny corrected the other girl.

"No, I'm afraid you can't be psychotic," Dean informed her in his best 'saddened' tone, "Because you are the most normal person here and if you were psychotic, do you even want to imagine what that would make Harry here?"

"Oh, that coming from a man who only hours ago was attempting to win a position as my knight in shining armour." Harry shot back.

There was a momentary silence as Dean attempted to find a decent response to that, Draco, Daphne, and Ginny tried to figure out exactly what Harry was talking about and exactly what its relevance was to their current choice of topic, and Harry merely smirked.

"I copy young Mister Thomas here when I say do we _want_ to know?" Daphne finally broke the momentary conversation block.

"Oh shush." Harry scolded and turned to more serious matters, "Do we know if the four of them succeeded and why Dumbledore already knows Bae is missing?"

"I spoke to Lovegood on my way here," Draco started, "She said something about a Snorkack and mistletoe which I eventually translated to mean someone had been preparing to look in the scuffle scene before she had put the blood there and thus she had to beat them to it and just made a little trail to the spot before "finding" the scene."

"How did you translate Luna talk?" Dean asked curiously.

"When Draco gets drunk he speaks only using the most random words." Daphne cut in before Draco could open his mouth, "It's only expected that when you drink as often as he does, you'd eventually start to understand your own language."

"… Okay then, I _guess_ that would make sense." Dean acknowledged as Draco glared at Daphne.

"I haven't heard from them yet but I'll check the book when this is done and I expect a full report by owl from Erica tomorrow afternoon." Ginny continued to answer the earlier question.

"So we can't be sure they've even left Hogsmeade yet?" Harry looked momentarily panicked.

"I'm fairly certain nothing happened to pull them off schedule Harry so I'd say they reached the portkey roughly eighteen minutes ago which would mean they were gone _before_ Dumbledore started looking." Ginny rolled her eyes at the older boy's panicking, "Oh and Harry? You need to take the wards down for a minute so the bowl thingy can pass by. Everyone look worried and/or pensive."

Harry instantly had the wards down and the others followed Ginny's instructions. The bowl beeped as it passed over Draco, Daphne and Harry and a few minutes later it finished that row and came back thus passing over (and beeping for) Dean and Ginny. Harry pushed the wards back up but took them down moments later when all the bowls whizzed over their heads to Dumbledore's position next to the Head Table.

The school watched in nervous silence as Dumbledore looked at small slips of paper that emerged from the bowl. He looked withdrawn for a moment before straightening up and plastering a look of determination on his face.

"As of now the school is in lockdown." He began, "All students return to your common rooms, you will find you are unable to deviate from the shortest route back for each of you. If you have any information which may help our search for Miss Bae Soo, Miss Erica Schilts, Miss Naomi Watts, and Miss Tilly Rollin please proceed immediately to the front of the hall rather then following the other students. Any information would help, regardless of how small. Harry Potter, please wait behind."

The students all began getting up as Harry gave no sign of worry apart from a small eye twitch when his name was first mentioned. Dean momentarily rested a comforting hand on the boys shoulder while Ginny 'slipped' and landed almost entirely atop her fake boyfriend.

"Most likely he wants to see if you've had any visions concerning this Harry." She murmured quickly before straightening up and apologizing profusely in her ditziest manner.

Harry rose and walked towards Dumbledore amidst a crowd of close to forty students who all wished to share information. He waited patiently as Dumbledore recorded the words of the first four students but after the fifth student gave the old man an in depth description of what Tilly had eaten for breakfast, the aging Headmaster set up a table with parchment and quills and told them to write down what they wanted to say as he beckoned Harry over to him.

"Harry my dear boy," Dumbledore began in his 'grandfatherly' tone, putting an arm on Harry's shoulder, "I'm sure you realize what a problem this is and so you must be expecting the question I'm about to ask you." Harry mentally braced himself, "Have you received any visions from Voldemort lately regarding anything which may be connected to this or anything else of importance?"

With that comment Harry had the dubious pleasure of a mental image of Ginny performing a victory dance atop Ron's bed at the Burrow.

"No sir. He's beginning plans for the usual Halloween attack but there have been no definite decisions made and certainly nothing to do with this." Harry looked crushed that he couldn't assist the Headmaster.

"That's alright Harry." Dumbledore placated his protégé, "There's no way any of us could have prevented this."

"Sir?" Harry began in an uncertain tone before receiving and encouraging look from Dumbledore, "I was thinking, I don't think it can be Voldemort because… well, didn't you say Erica Schilts earlier?" Dumbledore nodded, "Well, there are three people with that last name amongst the Death Eaters and Voldemort wouldn't try to kidnap his own followers would he?"

"Well, we do have to look into every option," Dumbledore said, 'You may return to your common room now Harry." Harry smiled gratefully at the old man and began to leave, "Oh before you go," Dumbledore stopped him, "I have a few things I need to quickly talk about with you."

"What is it?" Harry looked up at him in mock confusion.

"Firstly let me say I am pleased you and young Miss Weasley are getting along so well," Dumbledore began making Harry wonder if the man was some sort of pervert who got off on watching teen romance, "But I _am_ wondering why you seem to be a little distant with her brother and Miss Granger."

"Well Sir, I'm having trouble trusting them." Harry looked sad, "Ginny and I informed them that we were dating but asked them to keep it a secret but by the end of the day the whole school knew. I just don't know if I should risk being around them, what with everything with Voldemort, who knows what they would give away."

Dumbledore looked a little sheepish which was only natural considering he'd told the two to spread that story around.

"Are you sure it was them? Maybe someone else told them. I've noticed you seem closer to Mister Thomas lately." Dumbledore attempted.

"No, he didn't know then." Harry said.

"Well, maybe you should give them another shot Harry, I'm not sure I approve of your current companions. Miss Greengrass and Mister Malfoy are both from dark families."

"Daphne's family is neutral and Draco does not approve of his father's doings." Harry told his Headmaster, "I think he may possibly be a good spy for our side. I will try and spend some more time with Ron and 'Mione though if you think I should."

"I do Harry." Dumbledore stated gravely, "But I am pleased to see that there was a lot of thought behind your recent actions."

"Okay Sir." Harry turned to leave.

"Oh, and Harry?"

"Yes Sir?"

"From what you said it would seem to me that your connection with Voldemort hasn't dimmed. I think maybe you should continue your lessons with Professor Snape."

"But _Sir_! Snape hates me! He'd never agree to teach me and I don't particularly want private lessons with him again." Harry put up the expected argument and inside cursed his own stupidity for the talks about the connection. Harry had not mastered occlumency and as such was now in grave danger of giving away his plans to Snape.

"Now Harry, I will talk to him and I'm sure I can get him to agree." Dumbledore said in an almost boastful tone, "You know how important this is, please don't make a fuss."

Harry sighed.

"Yes Sir, I hope you find the students Sir."

"We'll do our best Harry."

* * *

"Hey Harry," Ginny greeted him and gave him a chaste kiss since Ron and Hermione were sitting next to her. 

"Hi Ginny, Ron, Hermione." Harry greeted them all, drawing surprised looks from Dean and a raised eyebrow from Ginny, "Are you three busy? I need to talk with you for a minute."

They all nodded and Harry got up and led the way up the stairs to his currently empty dormitory, signalling for Dean to wait behind. Once they were all settled comfortable on Harry and Ron's beds Harry took a deep breath and looked slightly pensive.

"I'm sorry to drag you all up here but I needed to talk to people about what Dumbledore said and you two are my oldest friends and Ginny is, well… my girlfriend." Harry looked at each of them in turn and they all smiled complacently and indicated for him to go on.

"Dumbledore asked if I'd had visions and I told him I had."

All three gasped and Hermione let out an "Oh Harry!"

"I didn't see anything to do with the kidnappings and the Slytherin girl that's missing has family amongst Voldemort's," Ron flinched and Hermione looked like she was trying not to, "followers so I don't think these were connected to him." All three sighed but Ginny appeared to be trying not to smirk, "But because I'm still having visions, Dumbledore says I have to go back to having lessons with Snape."

Ginny momentarily lost control and let out a loud cursive which was immediately echoed by Ron.

"Harry, I know you don't like him," Hermione began, ever the logical one, "But he is the only one who can teach you and you must realize how important this is."

"Yeah but bloody hell mate, how are you going to put up with him?" Ron's face showed an emotion that Harry assumed was his version of sympathy, "After what happened with his memories last year, he'll be a right bastard to you."

"Yeah Harry, and remember last year you said you felt weaker _after_ the lessons." Ginny volunteered a typical Weasley concern.

"Look guys, I know this is going to really suck, but Dumbledore said its necessary and last year I got Snuffles killed because I didn't try hard enough in the lessons." Harry looked crushed.

"Harry, it wasn't your fault, everyone knows that." Hermione commented timidly.

"I know that now 'Mione but its still tough and I do have to take partial responsibility." Harry looked melancholy.

"Hey, Harry mate?" Ron asked, "Um, Are you mad at us? You've sort of been ignoring us lately."

"I was hurt Ron." Harry said simply, "Ginny and I told you about our relationship in utmost confidence and you betrayed that."

"What?" Hermione looked upset and Harry thought he saw a hint of panic, "Why do you think that?"

"Because you were the only people we told because you mean a lot to us both," They both looked guilty, "And by the end of the day the whole school knew we were dating."

"We're so sorry Harry." Hermione tried, "We were just happy for you and wanted to tell other people about it."

"Next time _think_ before you act." Ginny informed them, "You're really smart Hermione, smarter then most of us, but sometimes you make foolish decisions."

"Harry mate, and Ginny, we didn't mean to hurt you."

"We know Ron. Just think first in future."

* * *

"What the hell was that about Harry?" Ginny asked him as soon as the other two had left. 

"Dumbledore wanted proof that I still respected him and it was that or ditch Dean or Dray and Daphne." Harry replied flatly and he slammed things about getting ready for bed, obviously not happy with things, "While we had our greatest win so far today, I personally had to make two huge sacrifices, one that is potentially devastating for our entire plan." He turned to face Ginny as he stripped off his shirt and pulled on one of the massive 'Vernon shirts' he used as nightwear, "If Snape sees something important we are _dead_."

"It's not so bad Harry; you do have the basics of occlumency down pat so hopefully you'll be able to hide the important stuff."

"That man has the ability to strip away all my defences." Harry ranted, "Its freaking crazy, how on earth am I supposed to learn anything from him anyway."

"Well, just do what you can, I guess." Ginny sighed and stood up, "Look, we'll talk it over tomorrow so just wait until then. In the mean time, I thought you'd like to know a little about our 'Greatest win so far' as you put it."

Harry looked up at this comment. Ginny smiled at him and pulled out the book.

"I checked as soon as I got back, they all got their safely and have claimed the nicest dorm room. Erica says that she feels they deserve it and that there are still four beds in that dorm but they've dedicated them to assorted friends so no one else is allowed to come and take them. She states that that is non negotiable." Harry laughed at this, Erica could be quite bossy as they had found out when they were briefing the four girls about their role in today's plans, "Oh, and I had four school owls waiting here for when I got back and as we speak they are already transporting anonymous letters to The Prophet, the Quibbler, the Clear Cut, and a personal one to Rita Skeeter detailing what Dumbledore told us with a few _minor_ embellishments. Patricia Phillip, a friend of Naomi's from Hufflepuff and another of our followers is (if all has gone well) currently firecalling Minister Fudge to inform him that his _darling_ niece has vanished along with three other model students."

"We are truly evil aren't we Gin."

"We are indeed Mister Potter."

* * *

"Well Severus? Would you care to explain why you are risking firecalling me out of a _Hogwarts_ fireplace? At one in the morning no less." 

"I am sorry my Lord, I wouldn't if it wasn't important. Dumbledore discovered at about seven this evening that a student Miss Bae Soo had vanished from Hogwarts. Signs of a struggle and smears of her blood were found by some students. Dumbledore immediately sent us searching and after a head count, he found that three more students were also missing."

"… Well? Which students were they Severus? Since you would doubtlessly know if I was going to kidnap them, you should assume I probably do not yet know their names."

"Again, my apologies. A first year Gryffindor by the name of Tilly Rollin, one of the old man's charity cases disappeared from near the DADA rooms. Naomi Watts from Hufflepuff was last seen outside near the forest. She is Fudge's niece and doubtlessly her disappearance will cause quite a stir. Bae Soo I already told you of. She is a Ravenclaw and I'm certain you have had contact with the Soo family in the past as they are very well respected. Lastly, I am afraid one of the Slytherins has also vanished. Miss Erica Schilts. She is Bernard and Alena's eldest."

"…"

"My Lord?"

"One student from each house. All from _very_ different backgrounds but all liable to create quite a stir. Someone is trying to make a point. Severus, I am certain Dumbledore will call an Order meeting soon and ask you to find out as much as you can from me. Once you have had time to 'spy', inform him that it was definitely not us. I want him to be as certain as I am that this is an outside group. Hopefully _one_ of us can wipe them out before they gain strength."

"Yes my Lord. He has already sent me a summons for tomorrow evening. He has also included that the Potter boy already told him you didn't plan this and that I must give him lessons once more whole prying the boy's head for more information about his current feelings towards this whole thing. Apparently he has been less then completely under Dumbledore's thumb as of late."

"Good, good. Keep the boy on his toes and do your best to keep his mind open for my perusal. At the same time though, I do not want you to weaken him entirely. I would prefer for him to be a challenge for me when the time comes."

* * *

"Mister Harry is a genius!" Hamish proclaimed loudly as soon as HFH were all in the one spot and surrounded by silencing charms (Joseph and Leonia knew perfectly well how easy it had become for Patrick to unintentionally break them and had been practicing as much as was possible). 

"Seconded." Leonia nodded, "I can't believe he pulled it off. I was sure they were going to get caught. Well, mostly I was specifically afraid Patrick was going to start singing about it and that Dumbledore would overhear but he's surprisingly held back so far."

"Hey! I resent that Leonia. I am perfectly capable of keeping quiet when I need to."

"Er, Patrick?" Joseph looked up with a hint of amusement in his eyes, "Do you perchance remember the Purveyors of Pie song? And maybe its volume and the location at which you chose to sing it?"

"… Mmmayyyybeee."

"I thought as much."

"Okay, okay, let's focus here. This HFH meeting is called to order." Hamish cleared his throat loudly after this short announcement and looked each of them over, "Georgina. You went to talk to Dumbledore about what Tilly eats for breakfast. Did you hear what he said to Harry?"

"Not all of it, but there was a note about your brother." Georgina informed Hamish with a sombre look, "Dumbledore was trying to convince Harry that Dean gave away that Harry was dating Ginny."

"Is he really?"

"No Patrick," Leonia rolled her eyes and Andrew smiled a little from his seat in the corner, "It's a fake relationship to explain why they sneak off paces together. Duh!"

"Well so-o-rryyy!"

"So you should be."

"_Anyway_," Georgina glared at them all, "Harry discouraged that idea but I heard the Headmaster say that Harry has to take extra lessons with Professor Snape."

"Oh sweet Merlin." Patrick whispered, seeming serious and intelligently contemplative for the first time since he'd come to Hogwarts. This was discouraged as he continued, "Poor Mister Harry has ADHD."

"… I'm sorry but am I the only one who didn't understand where Patrick was coming from with that comment?" Hamish looked around at everyone as they all blinked in attempted comprehension.

"Well," Patrick began, "On my first day when they split the Hufflepuffs between classes, it was just me, Georgina, and Ramona Dewitt the weirdo girl as the representatives of our noble house. When we were taken to the Potions room and the vampire dude called my name on his roll he said 'Oh no, not another one'. Now, _I_ assumed that he recognized my last name and had made the intelligent decision to be un-fond of my older sister. I naturally made an attempt to convince him that I was not a study nerd like my sister and he then goes 'Mister Granger, while I understand that you must have _special needs_ I expect you to take some form of medication before my class. I don't think I can tolerate another student with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in my classroom since I was forced to give the last one extra lessons just so she didn't blow up my classroom'. So, it seems fairly obvious to me that Mister Harry must be that student."

"Patrick," Hamish was the first to break the stunned silence left behind after Patrick's speech (they were all pretty amazed since not only was it the most unbelievably illogical thing any Granger had ever surmised, but he'd also done it in one breath), "Didn't you just say that the student was female?"

"…"

"Patrick?"

"Maybe he had a sex change. It's always possible."

At this point, Patrick became some what of a hero after his last comment sent Andrew into fits of hysterical laughter. It was truly amazing how much oblivious ability and dumb luck Patrick contained inside him.

* * *

Ola, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I was mostly struggling with the kidnapping scenes and in the end I decided to cut them out of the whole thing and just show the meeting with Dumbledore. Oh, in note to Severus… actually, I'm feeling mean so I won't tell you about that whole deal… yet. 

Reviews bring a tear to my eye and my fingers to the keyboard. Just something to consider.


	11. Esa Noche

Authors Note: Well, I am very pleased about the positive responses I have received from reviewers about the kidnappings and I will repeat once more for those of you who didn't review that I did _try_ to write the actual thing, but it just wasn't working which is actually why it took so long. Just wondering… am I doing something particularly wrong because the review count dropped severely for the last two chapters and I was wondering what that means. Eh.

Disclaimer: Should be obvious what I do and don't own, but if you're unsure; try to remember that this site is for fan fiction and that should clear up any confusion.

**Chapter 11**

It was honestly dumfounding for Harry how quickly things settled back to normal. Almost overnight people seemed to forget that four students had vanished to Merlin knows where and everyone simply continued on their way. At least that's what appeared to happen if one did not look too closely. _Most _people didn't look to be doing much, but things were happening under the unaffected appearance Hogwarts gave off on the morning of the 9th, the day after the disappearances. Well, in some parts of the castle at any rate.

Draco reported that apparently behind the scenes the Slytherins were more then slightly worried after learning their "Lord" was not responsible for the attack. In the past few years the Slytherins had remained unaffected in the assorted attacks on the castle so this was a new thing for them. He quietly informed Ginny that some of the lower year students were swaying but were not quite ready to look toward other paths. Daphne echoed this in relation to the senior girls. The senior boys, besides Draco and Theodore were mostly unsalvageable, most looking toward Blaise as their new ruler after Draco showed such respect for a Gryffindor but some seemed a little lost with the new changes.

The Gryffindors had gossiped for almost the entire evening after Dumbledore's announcement but by morning the overall opinion was that it "Stank of Slytherins" and with someone to blame for it the whole thing was old news and breakfast discussion reflected this as it consisted of only the usual drabble. Ron and Hermione did not let it drop that easily but with their relationship with Harry apparently mended, they were content to simply nag Harry with questions such as "What are you going to do about this whole thing?" and "Do you think it has anything to do with You-Know-Who?" shooting out of them every five seconds or so, despite having cleared up that it had nothing to do with the usual Bad Boy during last night's discussion.

Luna reported that the Ravenclaws did not care in the slightest, except for some of Bae's friends who settled with simply researching all the routes someone could have taken out of the castle without being seen. The others simply thought it was curious, but were far more interested in some new research on werewolves Professor Stynehope had informed them of. Apparently the current aim of the house was to find a method of forming communication routes between the wizarding world and the werewolf, vampire, centaur, and elf communities. It was a noble aim, but not one which was in any way influenced by the disappearance of four Hogwarts students.

Neither Harry nor Ginny knew how the Hufflepuffs were dealing with the whole thing and thought they would remain uninformed until the meeting that evening as they couldn't exactly ask. They did not count on some more innovative report techniques of one of Harry's Hufflepuff minions. Hannah bounced over to Harry, Ron and Hermione's desk in Charms and proceeded to truly piss off the red head by openly flirting with Harry until she had successfully passed on a skillfully coded message. Harry considered what she told him to be well worth the twelve minutes (yes he counted) he then had to spend assuring Ron he wasn't risking his life by cheating on the youngest Weasley. It truly wasn't worth _anyone's_ life to piss off that family. Harry was surprised Hannah had chanced it but hey, she was a Hufflepuff and as such she held _way_ to much faith in human nature. Foolish really but Harry was determined to train his puffers out of that bad habit.

Hannah had very subtly informed him that the Hufflepuffs were _very_ upset by Naomi's disappearance. Apparently (or so she informed him) Harry should be very cautious as there was an entire Hogwarts house out for the blood of whoever organized the kidnappings. It was surprisingly disturbing for Harry to realize that at any moment he could be attacked by a pack of vicious Hufflepuff, all armed and dangerous. He tried not to let it bother him however and by four thirty that afternoon it was the furthest thing from his mind. He was truly more worried about how he was going to survive the current "brainstorm" Hermione was insisting the three of them have in the library for the next two hours. He was also worried as to how he would get away in less then half an hour so as to be at the next meeting he had called with his minions.

Luckily for Harry, he had two first years that had just lost their best friend and as such had complete immunity from punishment if they happened to cause problems any time over the next few days. All it would take was a "W-we're so s-s-sorry Professor D-D-D-Dumbledore we just weren't able t-to concentrate" and they'd get a pat on the head and a few lemon drops.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm a few minutes late," Harry grinned at Hermione and Ron who looked at him impassively for a moment before pointedly turning to view the clock which showed four fifty two. They'd agreed to meet at four so neither of them were too impressed, "Yeah, I know I'm more then a few minutes late but I ran into Mandy and Eleanor."

The two first years peaked out from behind Harry in their best "shy" manner.

Hermione smiled gently at the first year Gryffindor, swallowing her irritation towards Harry for the moment.

"Hey Mandy, we're sorry about what happened to Tilly." She said quietly as Ron looked sympathetically at Mandy who had tear stains on her cheeks. Both ignored Eleanor as just a Slytherin. Mandy looked at them both for a long moment for letting out a wail and burying her face in Harry's robes as Eleanor shook gently before collapsing on the ground.

"Nice one Hermione," Harry snapped, "Do you realize how long it's taken me to calm then down? And now just when I've finished you go and talk about Tilly again. Honestly, how insensitive are you?"

"Er… _yeah_ Hermione! What were you thinking?" Ron turned to the girl trying his best to subtly keep one of them in Harry's good books for the moment. _Trying_ being the key word.

"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione looked at him in shock, "I didn't realize they were going to be that affected by-"

"Well you should have put a bit more thought into your actions Hermione." Harry looked at her calmly before gathering the unmoving Eleanor in his arms and motioning to Mandy to follow him, "I'm taking these two to somewhere quieter. This session will have to wait."

"But Harry," Hermione protested, "Don't you think that what we're doing is a bit more important? We have to get the bottom of these kidnappings-" she was cut off instantly as Mandy let out another wail and began cursing the supposed kidnappers at the top of her lungs.

"Another time Hermione, I'd absolutely hate myself if these two's condition was to worsen because I ignored them in favor of two people I already spent hours with today."

Harry yanked the door shut behind him and moved a little further down the hallway until he was certain it was deserted and that the two senior Gryffindors were not going to come running after him. Once certain it was clear he lifted Eleanor up a little further before unceremoniously dropping her on the floor.

"Ow!" she sat up again instantly, "What was that for?"

"Fun." Harry replied casually over his shoulder as he continued down the hall.

"_Fun_?" She questioned skeptically as she jogged to catch up with him, "That bloody hurt!"

"Language Miss Greengrass." Harry frowned at her, "What would your sister say? Anyway, stop being such a baby; I put cushioning charms there earlier." He scolded as Eleanor glared at him, "Really Elly, if you were serious about wanting to contribute to this whole thing and be trained properly, I can assure you that you will certainly take much harder falls. Consider it practice."

"Elly?"

"I think it works. You Slytherins really have issues with nicknames don't you."

"It shows a certain commonness that is unsuitable for our position as the most worthy witches and wizards ever to exist."

"I'll keep that in mind when I'm whipping Draco's arse in practice this evening."

Mandy, who had been giggling this whole time finally got control of herself enough to voice her query.

"Did we do good back there Mister Harry?"

"Absolutely Mandy." Harry smiled at her gently, "If possible, every time you two see Hermione would you be able to start crying again? That should be enough to keep her manageable for the next few days."

* * *

"Greetings all," said Harry grandly entered the Room of Requirement giving a royal wave while Mandy and Eleanor trailed after him. "I hope you have all enjoyed your weekend but now, as I'm sure your teachers have informed you, it is time to get back to work."

"Er… Harry?"

"Yes George."

"Before we start trying to maim and kill each other in a semi permanent fashion, would you mind telling us how yesterday evenings events went?" George asked curiously as everyone else leant forward in interest.

"Certainly, all four exited the castle on schedule and got to the portkey in time, they arrived exactly where I wanted them too, worked out all the locking systems, met Suki, and have since possessed the nicest sleeping quarters and are enjoying their freedom. Erica wrote in the book about fifteen minutes ago, as the older members of our jolly group should know, and informed me that they are following the training regime I set out and are having great success with it." Harry grinned wickedly at the whole group, "By the time we all arrive even young Tilly will probably be able to best the lot of you in a duel."

There was silence for a moment before Fred spoke out.

"That is the most boring summary of what sounded like the most tedious, uncomplicated, first mission in existence." He called out looking slightly miffed with the whole thing.

"Aww come on Fred," Harry whined looking hurt, "Boring means nothing went wrong. Exciting in the wizarding world usually involves mass carnage, screaming children, evil poltergeists, and clouds of poison gas. You don't really want exciting do you?"

"That actually sounded like fun." Daphne whispered to Draco.

"I heard that Daphne!" Harry swung round to face her, "And I'm _sorry_ I couldn't accommodate to your tastes. I tell you what, once you're all fully trained and unlikely to do anything stupid I'll try and organize something a little more dramatic okay? But in the mean time, you all need to find a partner of a similar skill level and spread out around the room. Draco, Luna, Fred, and George, this time can you lot sit out and help me keep an eye on things?"

Everyone started to stand amidst a chorus of groans from students still feeling the effects of Harry's last idea of a training session which had involved him sending blasting spells at everyone and telling them to try and fall gently. There hadn't been much success until Luna had her go and showed them all that it was possible to use your wand and perform a cushioning charm or two. Needless to say, once Harry recruited five other students to help with the blasting curses, they'd all gotten to be _very_ good at cushioning charms _very_ quickly which was actually the aim of the whole lesson. Or so Harry informed Ginny later when she scolded him for purposefully throwing out people's backs.

Harry had decided to devote the first portion of his 'crash course in being a semi-evil minion' solely to defensive strategies after he realized that everyone knew at least one jinx but most could be completely incapacitated with only a simply jelly legs curse. Some who had been in the D.A were far more capable as well as some of the older Slytherins but everyone was a little out of practice. Surprising really considering the current situations in wizarding Britain but it was easily fixable with just a few wake-up calls and some forcible instruction.

This particular session was going to focus on recovery charms. Harry knew that quite often in a battle one would need to rely on ones companions for assistance. As such, he and his four helpers were going to cast stunners on half of the students and then help their partners try to enervate them. Once he thought everyone was doing well with that he would move on to some quick blood clotting spells (to be practiced with some cutting charms on pre-made golems not on the students themselves), calming charms, and if there was time he would have them work on a variation of _protego _designed to shield another specified person rather then the caster. All the students knew that it was their job to practice the spells in their free time and that if they had any problems they could go to the people Harry had instructed to sit out on this session.

Harry and Draco went through to stun the older students while Fred, George and Luna wandered over to work with the first years.

* * *

"Owwy" Dean winced slightly as a Harry found a particularly sore spot.

"Oh don't be such a baby" Harry scolded but he was slightly gentler as he continued.

The training session had gone wonderfully but after everyone had left Dean had decided to stay back and help Harry gather up the things he couldn't leave in the room. This had also gone wonderfully but as they made their way back to the Gryffindor tower, Dean had been so involved in what Harry was saying about the centaur community in the forest that he had completely overlooked Professor Stynehope who was walking past. As the DADA teacher, she took particular offense to her own students being completely oblivious to their surroundings in the middle of a war and decided to do something about Dean's inattention. She had quickly whipped out her wand and cast a strong bruising hex at the sixth year who then dropped his books in surprise but did have the presence of mind to pull out his wand and cast _protego_ in defense of any other attacks that might have been coming.

This was sort of pointless by that time as the Professor, upon realizing that Harry too had automatically drawn his wand, decided that the lesson had been received and simply tossed a jar of Bright Bill's Bruise Balm at Dean before continuing on her way with a small nod to Harry. Professor Stynehope was apparently very good with this particular hex and as such, by the time Dean and Harry reached the dorm, the affected boy was already too stiff to efficiently apply the balm. At least, that's what he told Harry, but the other boy was starting to think Dean just liked massages as once the particularly bad bruises were dealt with; Dean seemed to actually be enjoying Harry's attentions.

Harry was straddled across the taller boys back, cautiously working his way across his muscles, working the balm in as firmly as he could without causing harm. He carefully kneaded the toned flesh beneath him, trying not to feel awkward about the necessary positioning. Keeping the mood light, Harry spoke about the weather, homework, the price of tea in China, amongst other inane things before the two finally felt more relaxed and at ease with the strange situation.

Harry continued on his task but the two began discussing their plans for what they would do if they succeeded. The other three sixth year Gryffindor boys were still stuffing themselves at dinner which Harry and Dean had chosen to skip so the two had the dorm to themselves. Harry definitely did not want to be an Auror anymore since he wouldn't really be able to make world changing decisions in that sort of position but he had no larger plans of becoming Minister either. Both he and Dean agreed that some sort of ruling council would be the best form of leadership as it would hopefully prevent one particular person or organization from gaining too much power over others. While Harry wasn't opposed to being on this council, he wanted to do something else as well. Dean was looking into foreign affairs, hoping to possibly become either some sort of diplomat or a political journalist. He figured the world could do with an honest person in either of these positions and both gave him enough sway over people to be able to bring forward his ideas for the world.

"You could try healing." Dean suggested after Harry had explained that he didn't want to be the Minister, "You're good with people and you're certainly well capable of gaining the skills."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I could deal with that much abuse." Harry sighed as he rubbed the balm across Dean's upper arms, "I mean, look at how we all treat Madam Pomfrey. We know that she's doing what's best for us but we all insist she doesn't know what she's talking about and do everything we can to avoid the treatments she offers us."

"Point taken Harry, perhaps education?" Dean proposed, slowly relaxing under Harry's ministrations, allowing the feeling of the other boy's hands to pull everything else out of focus. "You could take over from Dumbledore and spruce this place up a little."

"I have actually given a lot of thought into that one." Harry told him, nodding to himself in agreement with his own words, "It's certainly something I could do and I'd have fun with it, but I have to think that there are many more people who would be far better suited for that position. Turn around Dean," He added, shifting over to the edge of the bed to allow the other boy to move. "That's about the best I can manage with your back. It'll probably ache for a while so be careful as you roll over."

"Well, you could always try law." Dean offered another idea as he twisted around cautiously to look up at the ceiling, "You know, defend the innocent and all that. Careful, that one's pretty bad."

"Yeah, it's already fairly swollen. I'm not sure how much good this stuff will be on it." Harry sighed as he inspected the already purpling mark, "Law in the wizarding world isn't the same as how you and I know it in the Muggle world. You have to go directly through Wizengammots. Usually they get you to do a year or two in an internship in the Ministry in one of the main departments before you go on to scribe at the courts for a few more years. From there, you follow a strict educational course with a lot of trial and error on minor cases for people who cannot afford to pay for a more experienced lawyer before you finally earn the right to practice seriously with paying clients. It's pretty ridiculous actually."

"That's probably one of the systems we should fix if we win this thing." Dean commented lightly, "Draco would probably be able to do it, he knows enough about the Ministry and the courts to be able to spot such faults fairly easily."

"I was thinking I could start by studying Muggle psychology and sociology before then working in the ministry for a while." Harry said as he soothingly rubbed the balm across Dean's collarbone and down the sides of his chest, "It would be quite useful and it would be a good thing to work with in improving the hospital system. St. Mungos is a disaster as stands. It's amazing how little their mental health section does. All they do in that whole building is cure the terminal and then make them sick again with too many experimental treatments before simply settling with making them comfortable for a while only to change their minds and kick them out, letting them recover in their own time. It's amazing no one has sued the place."

"That would be good, so you'd be working with healers but not dealing with uncooperative patients." Dean smiled, "Morally, you'd feel you were making a difference but you wouldn't have to put up with a heap of crap at the same time."

"Exactly. The problem is that I don't know if I can actually study at a Muggle university. As far as that world knows, I stopped going to school at eleven."

"Yeah I guess so. I suppose you could possibly work around it but I don't know for sure."

"Mmhm, er Dean?" Harry gazed down at Dean whose eyes had glazed over at some point during the whole process.

"Yeah."

"I think I got all these bruises. Umm, are their any on your lower half or…"

"Oh. No, no I think that's it." Dean shuffled away awkwardly across the bed, "Thanks Harry, I appreciate it."

"No problem."

They looked at each other for a moment before Harry leapt off the bed.

"I'm going to go find Ginny." He said quickly before rushing out of the dorm.

Dean looked up at the ceiling for a minute as he heard Harry's footsteps thumping down the stairs. After a moment he reached over to pick up the book he was reading lately, a grin slowly forming across his face.

* * *

10th September

"Hey Harry." Ginny sang out as she sat down next to him.

"Oh hi." Harry replied without taking his gaze away from the doors to the Great Hall.

"Umm, are you waiting for anyone in particular?" Ginny asked uncertainly as she too turned her gaze to the doors to try and see what was so fascinating.

"Yeah, by today Fudge will have had to put up a token effort to find his niece which means I'm expecting an Auror or two to show up any moment now. Plus, by now the papers will have been able to confirm the notes we sent in about the disappearances so I'm expecting a large portion of the press to show up some timesoonish."

"Soonish?"

"More like in exactly ten seconds." Harry specified as Ginny instantly brandished her watch to check his timing.

Unsurprisingly, ten seconds later the doors burst open revealing half the wizarding reporters in Britain and a young Auror, probably only just out of training. The reporters, led by Rita Skeeter instantly rushed towards the Head Table pulling out notebooks or cameras as they moved. Once they got close, some of the crowd broke away to start interviewing random students. The Auror looked decidedly nervous and began randomly casting scanning spells at anything in sight to try and appear to be doing something useful. He didn't really succeed.

"What do you know, that was exactly ten seconds." Ginny said, only looking slightly startled. By now she was used to Harry's abilities, she herself had done something fairly similar on several occasions.

"Told you so." He murmured before settling back to watch the show.

"Headmaster, can you confirm that the students appear to have been taken by force?" One out of the loop reporter shouted out above the others, having not personally received one of Ginny's information letters.

"Is it true that all four students told teachers they thought they were being watched?" Another called out thrusting out some sort of recording device that knocked Professor Flitwick clean out of his chair.

"Is this connected to You-Know-Who? Was the attack truly meant for Harry Potter?"

"How can we feel safe in our homes if Hogwarts itself is vulnerable?"

"We've been informed that not all the blood at each kidnapping scene belonged to the students, do you know whose it was?" Rita turned to Professor McGonagall after Dumbledore did not appear to want to answer anyone's questions straight away.

"Where did that come from?" Dean leant over to ask Ginny who shushed him and tried to hear what Dumbledore was saying.

The old man slowly got out of his chair and held up his hand to silence the crowd.

"I am afraid that I cannot answer all of your questions immediately," He began and raised his hand once more as the crowd started up again, "However, please know that we are doing all we can to get to the bottom of this. We are looking into all possibilities and we have recruited the help of Ministry officials to assist in our investigation." Here he indicated to the Auror at the back of the room who froze on the spot at this reference.

The whole crowd of reporters turned as one to look at the young Auror. He gave a nervous chuckle and offered a finger wave before beginning to edge towards the door. He was too late however as almost the entire journalistic crowd rushed toward him to begin asking questions, leaving only a few behind to take pictures and continue harassing students. Harry gave a sigh as he watched the poor Auror try and get away from the crowd.

"Life is good." He commented happily to Dean who nodded in agreement.

* * *

Y'all should know at this stage that the list of Harry's minions on my homepage is slightly out of date (only by a few characters) and as such should not be fully relied upon to keep up. I will add the new names when I get the chance but at the moment I have other things taking up my time. I do have the full list with me though so don't think things will suddenly change due to forgetfulness (yes I know that's happened in the past but I fixed everything and as I just said; _this_ time I have a list).

I had a thought recently (Wow!). Do you guys think I should make either Ron or Hermione good again? If I did it would probably be Hermione because Ron is an incurable idiot (in my opinion). Just a thought. Please let me know. Also, I am working on improving my writing style so please let me know what you think my strengths and weaknesses are if you get the chance.

Thanks all!


	12. Maria Lando

**Authors Note:** Yes it took a while. I apologize for that but it couldn't be helped. This chapter was my way of breaking through writer's block so it sounds a bit forced since it was written with no creativity. The good news is I've already finished Chapter 13 so it shouldn't be long before it's posted.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

For the rest of the day Hogwarts was in chaos. Classes were constantly interrupted by representatives of one newspaper or another, usually shrieking something like "You can't silence us forever!" at the tops of their lungs. The Auror had requested backup to defend himself from the hoards so now he and some girl who looked like Brittney Spears' baby sister were wandering around the school randomly accosting students to "assist in the investigations."

Harry had heard rumours that some of the younger students were running through the halls screaming about being part of an illegal organization in hopes of being whisked away and thus missing class.

Needless to say, not much progress was being made in the whole 'trying to find missing students' thing. Harry was naturally kept in a fairly good mood for the entirety of the day. Or at least he was until he received an owl from Dumbledore informing him that his new remedial potions lessons with Snape would begin at seven tomorrow evening, to be continued at this time twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) until such a time as Harry had mastered the art.

* * *

11th September

The next day had been a relatively normal one unless you accounted for the fourteen first years currently being questioned so they'd miss potions, but overall, nothing happened. Harry went to breakfast, then to classes, then lunch, then more classes, went to dinner, almost got assassinated, and then headed off to see Snape. Okay so it wasn't the _exactly_ a standard day, but no one except Harry and a couple of friends knew about the slight change in regular routine.

Harry wasn't actually sure who was behind the attempt on his life as yet, but on his way to dinner he'd suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that someone was watching him. Harry however was a rather intelligent boy and as such knew that sneaking suspicions were not the most reliable pieces of evidence. He simply put up an extra monitoring charm and continued on his way. The shield, as it turned out, later saved Harry's life when it started to glow dull orange, indicating that a poison was in his nearby vicinity. Closer checks by Ginny and later Dumbledore showed a rather high quantity of the black draught in his pumpkin juice.

The black draught was not the most wonderful of poisons. It tasted horribly of rust and had a tendency to slightly darken whichever substance it was added to. It was however fatal within minutes of consumption. Dumbledore had of course been horrified and rather stupidly destroyed the juice on the spot, leaving him with absolutely no evidence to examine. He'd then proceeded to do a scan of the whole hall for any other non food-like substances but none had been found. Harry had simply shrugged and conjured a glass of apple juice in replacement.

The attack hadn't been all that spectacular as far as Harry was concerned, but he was used to attacks from the most powerful dark wizard to currently roam the earth and his vast army of fools so perhaps he was a little over critical. Ginny had thought it to be quite something, or at least the new slightly paranoid security measures she was taking seemed to indicate that she did.

As such, six fifty five the next evening, Harry James Potter stood nervously in front of the office of the world's most fearsome potions master. He wasn't alone; in the shadows behind him Daphne Greengrass was hidden away, having taken on the duty of temporary body guard until such a time as the boy wonder exited the dungeons. Her rather boring job for the next hour and a half was to stand there and stun anyone who tried to lie in wait as well.

The fearful lad knocked cautiously on the door before him and stood quaking in his boots. Moments later, in a continuation of the parallels to a bad horror movie; a booming voice sounded from within.

"Enter!" The voice boomed in its most booming way and with one last glance behind him, the boy stepped across the threshold and into the great beyond.

"Put your book bag on the table in the corner Mister Potter. Remove your robe and have your wand at the ready." Professor Snape said as calmly as was possible while still sneering.

"You want me to undress?" Harry raised an eyebrow in a show of true Gryffindor bravery, "Why Professor, we barely know each other." He batted his eyelids flirtatiously.

"Do try to show some maturity Potter," Snape looked at him scornfully, "You are here to learn and let me inform you right now that if you do not behave in an appropriate manner, I will be forced to take steps."

"What are you going to do? Spank me?" Harry grinned at him, although he did begin to follow the previous instructions as he spoke, "For all _you_ know I may like that."

"Spare me the mental image Potter. Now try and block my entrance. _Legilimens_!"

He was locked in his cupboard again, watching a small spider as it made its way across one of the rafters above him. He stood silently watching as across the hallway his teacher told the Dursleys that he was worried about Harry's health. Hermione looped the chain around his neck and the time turner was rotated once, twice, three times. He hid behind one of the statues as Dumbledore faced off against Voldemort, all three of them realizing that there was no way the battle could end here. _Oh what a load of crap_!

Harry was instantly thrown backward as Snape retaliated to the tickling charm Harry had sent out on autopilot. The Gryffindor fell hard against a book case but, due to one nifty spell or another, not a single book was shifted. Wincing, Harry got to his feet and rubbed his back.

"Well wasn't that fun." He stated flatly, "Let's try something else."

"Enough cheek Potter." Snape ground out, "Why was that last memory enough for you to drive me out?"

"Why sir, the only possible explanation is that I am completely enamoured by the Dark Lord and simply could not let you get in deep enough to derive my true feelings." Harry widened his eyes innocently, "Just imagine if you had found out about that poem I wrote of him. Oh gosh darn I just told you anyway."

"Look Potter, I don't like being here any more then you do but if you could at least try to take this seriously then the chances are we can be done with this whole ordeal a lot sooner then we will be if things continue in this manner."

The two glared at each other for a moment, both registering with a decent amount of confusion the thumps coming from outside in the hallway. Harry was certain he had heard male groan in pain followed by someone saying "How do you like me now bitch?" in a tone that was so very Daphne; he could not help but roll his eyes.

Even Slytherins are suckers for corny movie lines when faced with paralleled situations.

"Potter, might I suggest this time that instead of trying to block me entirely, you instead wait until you feel my presence and then try to force me to see something you do not mind sharing as opposed to whatever rubbish happens to pop along your thought train." Snape finally said with a sigh. Obviously, separating with these little titbits of wisdom was very taxing for him.

"How do I do that sir?"

"You think of them obviously." Snape returned to classic form with no loss of momentum, "And if at all possible, do _try_ not to cast first year spells at me while you're doing so. _Legilimens_!"

Remus was letting the boggart out and Harry tried to maintain his positive memory. He watched cautiously as Aunt Marge's dog Ripper approached him from across the dining room, a piece of his owner's table snacks still hanging from his mouth. Lockhart was there. He swooped around the dragon, reaching for the egg. He'd burnt breakfast again and Petunia was already complaining to Vernon. He was really in for it this time. Lockhart was there again. He and Ron were looking up from the quiz and over to each other in complete shock. It was ridiculous. It had no relevance to the class and could not possibly help them defeat dark creatures in any future encounters.

Harry was thrown across the room again as Snape hit him with an _expelliarmus_.

"What the hell was that for? I was doing it right!" Harry shouted, only partially drowning out his temporary body guard's distant cry of; "You wanna piece of me?" from just outside the door. The Muggle raised Gryffindor could not help but wonder if she had somehow been watching WWW during the holidays.

"You cast another hex at me Potter; I believe I asked you _not_ to do that." Snape informed him calmly.

"I hexed you?" Harry looked surprised.

"Yes Potter, a tickling charm, as in the last trial. Let me assure you now that the Dark Lord will not be even remotely troubled by such basic spells."

"No really?" Harry shot back sarcastically, "Drat, and here I thought that tickling him to death would be the perfect method to off him with. Just a moment," He pulled out an imaginary diary and pen, "Cancel… order… of… feather… dusters." He muttered while flourishing his make-believe pen across his hand. In the background, Daphne let out what sounded to be an ancient Celtic war cry and a scream of fear was heard from whoever her current companion was.

"_Most_ amusing Mister Potter, I'm sure that earns you a round of laughs at the Gryffindor Stand Up night." Severus commented dryly before sending the spell at him for a third time.

Harry was thrown backward into the cupboard, the crack of his skull against the harsh shelving accompanied by the familiar shout of "There's no such thing as magic!" Wormtail stood shaking above the cauldron and this time, Harry was prepared for when his father's old friend hacked off his own hand but Snape showed up just as it happened. Harry had no idea what the correct answer was, but this greasy man seemed to expect him to and took off points when he couldn't. As he left the classroom, Ron assured him that it was just something this particular teacher did. Harry could not help but feel it was more personal then that.

The current day Snape watched nonchalantly as Harry, once more, went flying across the room.

"I guess I cursed you again then Sir." Harry looked up at his teacher from the cool stone floor.

"It's possible. I haven't felt any affects yet, but I'm sure you sent something. What other reason could I have had for banishing you across the room?"

"I see."

"Good." Snape began gathering some papers and sat down at his desk to begin going over them, "Practice every night before you go to sleep Mister Potter. I'll see you here on Friday."

"Sir yes Sir." Harry muttered under his breath before collecting up his gear and leaving the room.

Daphne had collected quite a pile of miscreants as it turned out, and it appeared her body-guarding duties were warming on her. That is, if the dark sunglasses and oversized grey suit she had donned were any indication. That and her new habit of diving around corners with her wand drawn before Harry was allowed to turn down any corridor.

"So how'd it go?" She called out as she leapt around a pillar.

"It was alright I guess." Harry replied, doing his best to ignore her strange antics, "Well, apart from several bruises from being tossed against a wall that is. I actually made-"

"_Down_!" Daphne shrieked, diving onto him and flattening him into the ground.

Harry groaned in pain as all the air was forced from his lungs.

"False alarm," Daphne said a bit sheepishly as she helped him up, "Just a couple of house-elves going about their business. Wait a minute… is that shoe polish they're carrying? Harry! Down!"

Harry was prepared this time and spun to the side as she leapt at him again, resulting in her doing a spectacular belly-flop onto the moist dungeon floor.

"As I was saying," Harry continued ahead as Daphne rushed to get up and accompany him, "I actually made a bit of progress. Anyone could still access my mind, but if I know about it, I have a way to stop them getting in too far. The problem of course is that Voldy tends to _do his thang _while I'm asleep. But at least I'm getting there and… for god's sake Daphne! The candelabras are not out to get me!"

"Harry, I have to take my duties seriously!" She wailed at him with a bit of a pout, "Who knows what your minions would do to me if a rogue candle were to leap out and set your eyebrows alight on my watch."

"Daphne," Harry looked at her suspiciously "Is this your way of telling me never to force you into guard duty ever again?"

"That is a high possibility sir, now step away from the drapery, I suspect that the dust mites may have put a hit out on you and as such, I must burn this whole castle into the ground lest their assassins get a hold of you."

"Alright Daphne, I get the point."

"I'm serious Harry; you should never underestimate the influence of the Dust Mite Mafia."

"You burn this castle and we'll have bigger problems. Let it go." Harry said in a patronizing tone, earning a glare from the Slytherin.

"_Fine_!" She snapped, "But only because you're cute."

* * *

15th September

The remainder of the week past quite pleasantly. Harry went to his second lesson with Professor Snape on Friday and managed to place some less damaging memories in front of him on three of his invasions. He went to sleep feeling quite pleased with himself. His mind still felt rather open after the lessons, but by morning he couldn't feel any difference.

The training of his minions continued, now every second night as Dumbledore upped the castle security a little after the poisoning attack and, on Sunday, Harry felt confident that the people he'd selected to be kidnapped were now capable of clearing the teacher patrols quite easily.

The four supposed victims were all third year students. Damian Eaurk from Hufflepuff walked straight out the main entrance without anyone batting an eyelid. His friend Patricia Phillips, also from Hufflepuff caused a slightly greater stir when she let out a high pitched scream and vanished in front of two teachers and nine students all located atop the astronomy tower. The girl had, in truth, screamed exactly as her freshly consumed transparency potion had taken affect and then simply walked down the stairs and snuck out of the castle while her companions were still trying to figure out if she'd fallen over the edge. The current Hogwarts theory was that the kidnappers had thestrals working for them and that they had sucked her soul up, thus diminishing the need for her physical body. No one seemed to believe any of the teachers when they explained that thestrals could not do such a thing.

Michael Cizsweski of Gryffindor and Carmen Borthew of Slytherin left together. They were one of a rare selection of inter-house relationships and as such, no one found it strange when the thirteen snuck off together. Finding the pair chatting together in the library or snogging behind the broom shed wasn't a rare occurrence and everyone had learnt to simply leave the pair alone. It wasn't until Dumbledore made them all sit in the hall again that anyone knew they were even missing. This time, the entire school had been left sitting in the Great Hall until close to eleven at night awaiting the teacher's return. It wasn't until the last searcher, Professor McGonagall, quietly re-entered the hall and shook her head that Dumbledore finally arose to address the students.

"I am most terribly sorry to inform you that the four new students to have gone missing have not been recovered," Dumbledore began in his best melancholy tone, only to break off as a Slytherin girl wailed in anguish and set off at a run with a Slytherin boy of the same age chasing behind her.

As the doors slammed after the two and Dumbledore continued to express his regret Harry turned to Draco and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ariel Borthew and her boyfriend Miguel Pascato, both seventh years." Draco identified the pair, "Pascato is the current heir for the Pascato family. His grandfather is his only living relative and will probably die fairly soon since he's pushing past a hundred. Borthew you may have figured out, is Carmen's older sister. She's never been to patient with Carmen and definitely doesn't approve of her and Cizsweski, but I'd guess from that display that she is starting to regret the way she behaved."

"Did you catch that Daphne?" Harry murmured and the brunette seated in front of him inclined her head slightly to indicate that she'd heard, "Good. See if you can get Borthew alone and worm your obnoxious way into her heart. We need older supporters and the Pascato family's heir would be a wonderful asset to our cause as well as a symbol for other old families."

Daphne turned slightly in her seat and raised an eyebrow at him as if to say "No duh. What kind of an idiot do you take me for?" before turning her attention back to Dumbledore who was in the process of introducing a new system.

"At every meal, you will report to a prefect to confirm you are present. They will take a list of all those reported to the Head boy or girl who will run these pens here over the list. The pens will report to them if anyone's name is missing and then they will come and inform the teachers. If the teachers can't find the missing students they will inform me and a full search will be conducted." Dumbledore finished with an almost self-satisfied smirk.

"It's a pyramid of complete control." Draco murmured in outrage.

"Sounds like Amway." Dean commented dryly from Daphne's left earning a repressed laugh from Harry and confused glances from Dray, Daphne, and Ginny.

"Does anyone have any questions that they do not feel their prefects can answer?" Dumbledore asked the crowd of students and seemed slightly surprised when no one raised a hand, "Then you may now return to your dorms. Please be certain to come to each meal from now on."

* * *

17th September

By the time Tuesday had arrived, Hogwarts had basically settled into its new routine. There had been a couple of problems the day before when Patrick Granger had decided he didn't feel like eating lunch and had instead gone off to play with Dobby in the kitchens, inspiring a forty-five minute search through the castle. The hunters would probably have found him sooner but Peeves, seeing this as his chance for some acting practice, spent about twenty minutes sobbing to Dumbledore about how his one true heir had been swept away by evil doers who had dragged him to the lake. Three sopping wet teachers later this theory was disproved when Patrick wandered into the Great Hall to figure out why his class was yet to show up for Charms.

Now however, he'd managed to get a small identifying spell put on him by Dumbledore so that he needn't show up to meals to be marked present. This sparked a small cry of outrage from Hogwarts' anorexic community who felt they too should be given the spell so that their eating habits wouldn't have to be scrutinized by a judgemental student body. The aging Headmaster spent quite some time trying to explain that he couldn't check identifying charms for the entire school quite that often during the day so one for Patrick was all there was going to be.

Harry was actually fairly pleased with the new system since not only was it easily thwarted, but it also pissed off a huge number of students, particularly Ravenclaws who usually used their lunch breaks for extra study in the library and were now prevented from doing so. This was especially wonderful for him since quite a few of said Ravenclaws were in the upper years and, if all went well, he would soon have some very intelligent people joining his minions. At the moment his sixth and seventh year helpers consisted only of Dean, Draco, Theodore Nott, the Weasley twins, and Hannah Abbott who had joined him a little before the first kidnapping. Her presence basically ensured that he would soon be joined by Susan Bones and Sally-Anne Perks, but she had explained that she wasn't going to suggest it to them until she was sure that Ron Weasley had stopped spying on her.

Ron had been watching Hannah for around a week now, having been suspicious that she might be Harry's secret girl on the side. Ginny had tried to talk her brother out of his assumptions four times already but, after Hannah's flirtatious display in Charms the previous week, it appeared nothing could change Ron's opinion.

Harry was in Charms once more now, two days after the kidnapping, and was passing the time trying to decide which of his and Ginny's altered version of _stupefy_ he would teach his minions first that evening. The pair had spent a lovely couple of hours on a pretend date while Dean and Draco played the rather unwilling test subjects for Harry and Ginny's experimentations. Daphne had been supposed to turn up, but after being forced into body-guarding duty a couple of times the previous week, she had decided to spend the time having a much needed sulk in her dorm.

For most of Charms, Harry simply sat there, doodling on his parchment and planning that evenings training session while Ron glared at Hannah, and Hermione glared at Harry. Moving on to DADA next, Harry managed to escape from their clutches and sat next to Susan Bones. He didn't realize at the time, but he'd managed to assist Hannah greatly. With this simple seating choice Harry effectively transferred Ron's suspicions from one blonde to the other, thus giving Hannah a decent excuse to sit down next to Susan and talk about Gryffindors. Professor Stynehope had moved on to water creatures and this lesson had been devoted to grindylows. The teacher obviously was not happy about having to talk on such a subject as she rushed through the entire thing and then triumphantly informed them at the end of the lesson that the next day they would be going down to the lake to talk to the merpeople before then informing them that she wanted four feet written on grindylows by tomorrow. Harry suspected that she was just giving them practice and wouldn't actually read the papers, but he wasn't going to deny her such fun by pointing it out to the class. Dodging past his ex-best friends, Harry exited the classroom at high speed and jogged off to meet Remus who was here to see Andrew again today.

* * *

"Severus my dear boy, how are you?"

"I'm well Headmaster. You wished to see me again?"

"Yes indeed. This second kidnapping is problematic for us. The students are loosing faith in our abilities. Do you know of anyway this could be connected to Lord Voldemort?"

"No sir I'm afraid not. I contacted the Dark Lord immediately after the first kidnapping and he showed no signs of being aware of it. He believes a new group is making a move to try and enter this war."

"I was afraid of that. If only it were him, this would be so much easier to fix."

"Indeed."

"Never mind then, it was worth a hope. How go Mister Potter's lessons? Is he improving at all?"

"Slightly. He has proven that he at least can put up a blocker memory, but only after quite a few memories have been revealed."

"See if you can get a more marked improvement, but do not let him block you entirely. I need those insights Severus, the boy is pushing past me and that simply cannot happen."

"I'll make sure I try for all the memories related to you in our next session sir."

"Thank-you my boy. You may leave now."

"Thank-you headmaster."

* * *

I promise the next chapter is better. I'm not too impressed with this one but I figured that something is better then nothing. 


	13. La Milonga De Ricardo

**Author's Note**: Thanks to the few people who reviewed. Well, _I_ think this one is a fairly nice chapter, so I hope you do too. On note to those who thought it necessary to send me an "ouch" comment (aka flame) for chapter 12; if you could in future please log in so I get a chance to speak in my own defense that would be lovely. As I said, it was quite literally that or nothing. There was no option for a do-over. Anyway, this isn't Shakespeare for god's sake; it doesn't matter if _one_ chapter is a little slow. Moving on; some of you would know that Replay is almost finished and as such I am starting a **new story** which therefore means that, once again, you all get to have your say through a **PAIRING POLL**! Fun huh? Anyway, I won't give you information about the new plot yet, but the current votes (from Replay readers) give you the pairing options of:

Theodore Nott,  
Blaise Zabini,  
Seamus Finnegan,  
Marcus Flint,  
Oliver Wood,  
Charlie Weasley,  
Percy Weasley,  
Kingsley Shacklebolt

Katie Bell,  
Lisa Turpin,  
Pansy Parkinson,  
Sally-Anne Perks,  
Padma Patil,  
Susan Bones,  
Tonks,  
Angelina Johnson,  
Alicia Spinnet,

or no pairing.

These have been chosen for their rarity. To have your say, review or PM with the name and your vote will be added to the count. If you want a different pairing then feel free to suggest it, but it must be rare, and I'd appreciate it if you gave me a reason for your desire. You can check out the current votes in my profile.

* * *

Chapter 13 

18th September

Harry's third lesson with Snape was quite unremarkable. There was a start, middle, and an end. Harry had taken roughly the same amount of time as his last go to place a blocking memory in front of what the man sought, but this time he managed it on his first go. He wasn't particularly surprised that Snape was trying to get to his memories involving Dumbledore, and luckily, he only got to the basic ones of watching him make welcome speeches and the like. Harry was sent back to his dormitory after the lesson with instructions to practice every night before going to sleep.

Instead of going to bed however, Harry headed off to the Room of Requirement. It wasn't quite past curfew yet so he couldn't really be punished for avoiding his bed just yet, but he knew that his invisibility cloak would be brought to the room for when he had to leave, as it was every time he went there, just in case he stayed behind too late.

Harry was not going to another training session today though. This evening; Harry was going to his most important meeting yet.

Harry had long ago realized that he needed a core group that he could rely on entirely and the time had finally come when he needed to decide who these people were.

Harry needed to include people with a variety of strengths, assorted connections, valuable assets, and with no chance of a change of heart or loyalty. He had made his decisions on who would be included according only to those four areas and, with that in mind, he had come up with the best team he could.

The first person was, of course, Ginny. He really couldn't think of a single reason to leave her out of this. Plus she would have kicked his arse if he'd tried. The second person he had included almost automatically was Daphne, recognizing her abilities and the assistance she'd given since she'd joined them. The next two were Dean and Draco since the five of them had been planning almost everything together and hadn't gone wrong so far. After that, he sorted through his lists of minions and other supporters to try and figure out who to include and had settled with Remus, Hannah, Erika Schilts, and, in a surprise to all the others; Andrew Forester.

Harry pushed open the door to the Room of Requirement and paused dramatically for effect before stretching his arms out wide.

"My dear friends," He cried out joyously, causing everyone else in the room to lean away from him warily, "I'm so glad you could all be here with me today. Please, take a seat." He gestured to the plush armchairs placed in a large circle, filling up most of the room.

After looking at him for a moment, everyone hurried over to pick a seat. As they all sat, a small three legged table appeared beside each of them, holding a plate of biscuits, a goblet containing each person's favorite drink, each person's copy of the book, or a new copy to those who didn't already possess one, and a manila folder containing several A4 sheets of paper.

"Okay," Harry began as he sat down in the last chair and picked up his steaming mug of cider, "I really would like to thank you all for managing to get here, particularly Remus and Erika as I know you both had to go to a lot of trouble to sneak your way into the castle. Now, some of you probably know, or would be able to logically surmise that I can't run this whole show on my own." Ginny rolled her eyes and Daphne gave an unladylike snort, "That's where you lot come in. I would like to invite all of you to be a part of the core unit."

Harry stopped speaking and leant back in his chair, obviously allowing time for comments and questions about his offer. The other eight all sat quietly for a moment, some looking at him in shock, others quietly pondering, and Ginny and Daphne rolling their eyes toward the ceiling, quite obviously having expected this meeting and its results.

Draco was the first to break the silence.

"Harry, by _core_ I'm guessing you'd mean that we'd be included in every detail, with knowledge of all plans and having a large part in deciding what would happen." He paused here, "Are you sure you trust us all with that? Up until recently I'm pretty sure I wanted to throttle the life out of you."

"Ah yes, but _I'm_ pretty sure that you were just taking out your frustrations on the easiest target because you were unable to receive the love you wanted from your father and had, in childish rage, decided that the blame for that lay with another, namely me."

"… You know, you really know how to make someone feel awful about their life Potter."

"I'm just making a point. If I'd said that last year you would have punched me in the face, now you look like you want to come sit on my lap and sob it all out with your face buried in my neck."

"Shut up Potter."

"Aw, just let it all out Drakie. Who's a big boy? Who's Daddy's big boy?"

"… Now _that's_ going to leave psychological damage."

"Mister Potter," Andrew broke in quietly and then flinched when all eyes turned to him, but he bravely continued on, "Why exactly is it you want me here? I mean, I'm eleven and I can't really do very much at all."

"That's just it Andrew, the fact that you have so many problems hindering you has caused you to develop what you could to the best of your ability. Whenever you enter a room, any room, within moments you have found everything that has changed since you were last in it, every threat, every escape route, and every item that could possibly assist you. You seem to be able to spot a lie no matter how skilled the talker is just by listening to differences in tone, by collecting facts while no one is paying attention to you, I think you've somehow managed to find out the little life details of everyone you've come across." Harry smiled at the boy, "You're incredibly observant, and your new heightened senses have only added to that. You're amazing Andrew, and don't let anyone ever try to tell you otherwise."

Around the room, everyone tried not to embarrass the boy with their scrutiny as they watched him blush sweetly at the high level of praise from his idol.

"Now then," Ginny snapped them all back to business, "Does anyone here feel they wish to decline Harry's offer?" They all shook their heads and leant forward slightly to see what hear what would happen next, "Well, I recommend that Harry here now take the time to inform us all of exactly what he is getting us into."

The others nodded insistently, knowing full well that if they didn't check, Harry was likely to line them up for something like Amazonian mud wrestling just to teach them caution.

"Well," Harry cleared his throat in his most pompous manner, "I'm going to try and keep this as simple as possible so I'll just list off what I think will be the specific tasks of each of you."

"Hang on; can't you start with just a summary of what the core unit is actually for?" Dean protested, earning a sigh from Harry.

"_Fine_. The core unit will be made up of us, and possibly one or two others. Its purpose is to keep everything running smoothly and to make sure every single issue with _anything_ is addressed by at least one person with the power to do something about it. Each of you will be given certain areas of responsibility, but you may of course seek help from the others. Be careful though that you do not meddle with another's department of expertise as everyone here has been chosen for a reason. Feel free to get very upset if another person does interfere with your department, but keep in mind that for obvious reasons, I have the power to _sensibly_ veto or eliminate things you come up with. We will meet up for anything major that occurs, as well as a maintenance meeting at least once a fortnight, but in general we will work separately."

"O-_kay_ that actually sounds relatively logical, which is surprising considering you came up with it." Daphne spoke out.

"Oh sweetie, surely you've realized there is method behind the madness." Harry said patronizingly but then pouted when the others started to laugh, "Hey, you should be nice to me. I can have you all arrested."

This shut them up.

"You can _what_?" Ginny asked, being unfamiliar with this idea.

"Oh yeah, that's another concept I've come up with. If I'm not pleased with something any one of my minions has done, I can have them arrested."

"I see. And when did you come up with this concept?"

"A few seconds ago when I had my very own personal mini-sulk because you don't think I'm logical."

"Harry, sweet… you are the most illogical person any of us know." Ginny informed him gravely.

"Really? Then how did I just create a very logical system of division?"

All eight glanced at each other, each searching for an answer.

"Dumb luck?" Hannah finally offered.

"Oi!"

"Harry, relax. We're just kidding with you." Draco finally said, "You've done pretty awesomely so far."

"Awesomely?"

"It's a real word. Look it up if you don't believe me."

"Er, thanks but I'll be right. Anyway, moving on." Harry pulled out his manila folder and indicated that they should do the same, "I'll start with Ginny. You're still my second in command but, when you're not involved in that, your main area is communication. That puts you in charge of the Book, and you're the go to girl if any of the minions have anything they need help with. You're also supposed to keep in contact with Haven and keep everything running smoothly in all forts."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.

"Isn't that what I've been doing already?" She asked him pointedly.

"Yeah, but now you get recognition for it and you can't complain to me when I leave it in your care."

"Gee. _Thanks_."

"Aw, you know you're secretly pleased that I figured out what you wanted." Harry winked at her, "So, moving on to Daphne. You, as the designated manipulative bitch, get to be in charge of recruitments, and running the rumor mill. Just to warn you now, with the plans I've got in mind, that's a lot bigger a task then you might think."

Daphne nodded at him, serious for a moment.

"Dean, you're in for strategizing and attacks. I'll obviously be playing a large part in those fields, but you keep the general field organized and plan the smaller attacks. Draco, you're public appearance. You've grown up knowing how to handle the Ministry and keep the public rooting for you. Well, your dad wasn't so great at that last bit, but he had the theories down pat. You make sure they're thinking and saying the right things, without being obvious of course." Harry glanced down at the papers in his hand.

Each one contained a list of responsibilities as well as key information about how each department would operate. He'd finally delegated the already operating systems over to those who'd worked hardest towards getting them set up, and now he had to start the new departments.

"Remus, for obvious reasons you're in charge of non human support. I know that's not the best title, but I'm sure you'll think of something. That's basically vampires, werewolves, acromantulas, veelas, centaurs, giants, goblins, and everything in between." Remus nodded, having been expecting this ever since Harry mentioned departments, "Hannah, your in charge of secrecy I guess is the best way to put it. So you work with passwords, codes, deceptions, locations, basically keeping everything that shouldn't be seen; unseen. Erika, you're in charge of training. I realize that you yourself have not yet finished training, but you're in charge of bringing everyone in Haven up to standards. In addition, you're Ginny's helper in Haven since she can't get there herself to sort out minor things like making sure there are no boarding disputes and that food supplies are kept up. The surrounding towns are more then familiar with people coming in making strange requests so find a couple of contacts there to gather supplies up and make drop offs. Now, that only leaves us with Andrew."

The young werewolf jumped slightly, glancing over to him slightly fearfully. He hadn't looked at his sheet yet and even after hearing what everyone else was in charge of, he still had no idea what Harry would throw him into. He glanced at his sheet and looked up a Harry in shock.

"Andrew has just realized that I have put him in charge of Intelligence."

"But Mister-"

"Harry."

"But H-Harry, I've never had any practice in that sort of stuff. Plus I'm not sure I could be in charge of… of… well _anything_."

"You're right, you'll have to practice being more forceful, or you'll have difficulty earning respect. But the thing is; you're perfect for the role because you're so unsuited. No one would suspect you. I'm sure you've been privy to many private conversations simply because people tend to forget about you. You'll have people beneath you who can see how perfectly you are suited, how well you abilities lend you to this. We'll all be around to help you, and the first few tasks I'll give you will be ones that are basically just practice runs okay?"

Every looked at the small boy calmly, just awaiting his acceptance. He took his time, not wanting to accept something that would lead to ruining things for them in the entire war. He rationally weighed up his skills, his gifts, and everything he'd already managed to teach himself that could help with his new responsibilities.

"Alright." He said calmly.

"Splendid!" Harry cried aloud, "Now, you all need to run things by me at first, except for you Gin since I already know you can do your job. Pick a couple of the others to help you out and be a part of your departments. Make sure you choose wisely. Andrew, I'd imagine that for obvious reasons you will be working closely with Hannah and her department so make sure you two communicate frequently okay? Oh, and buddy? Under no circumstances may Patrick be on my Intelligence Service. I don't really fancy the songs which would result from that, nor the stint in Azkaban I would surely get as a result of his involvement."

Andrew turned to look at him and, in an uncharacteristic show of attitude, raised an eyebrow at him.

"Honestly." He said quite calmly and walked straight out the door, his copy of the Book and the manila folder clutched firmly to his chest.

* * *

21st September 

The remainder of the week was rather busy for all eight members of Harry's core unit. Remus and Erika had managed to leave the castle undetected and Remus apparated both of them to Haven so Erika could get to work before heading back to Grimmauld Place to check on his houseguest.

Ginny and Daphne took two different approaches to their new positions. Ginny just kept doing what she'd always done and didn't mention her new status; Daphne insisted on a fanfare each time she arrived at a training session. Ginny subtly watched those around her to see who would be best to assist her; Daphne started holding auditions. Ginny wrote daily updates in the book to explain what she was up to; Daphne, until Harry forced her to change her actions, refused to start working until her wages had been negotiated and even after grudgingly getting started was still insisting on superannuation, six weeks paid vacation, and dental. Never mind the fact that she could get free dental care through the Wizards National Health Service; Daphne wanted private and she wanted it _now_.

Hannah was having an absolute ball. She'd begun by inventing passwords for the Book, to enter the training room, and to talk to any of the members of the core and then entertained herself by coming up with innovative techniques of spreading these new passwords between the members. Her methods varied from bewitching Thursday's alphabet soup; to a more traditional mirror message, only revealed by steam; to shoving her chest at Theodore Nott's face so he could read the message she'd written there. Ginny thought she was being a bit crude. Harry thought it was freakin' hilarious.

Andrew had probably had the most interesting week. After his show of cheek to Harry at Wednesday's meeting, he'd been making a rather obvious effort to build his own self confidence. He'd volunteered answers in a couple of classes, stood up to Patrick's nagging about what he'd been doing on Wednesday, and he'd been allowing slight human contact, something he'd been avoiding with almost everyone since his time with Greyback. Aside from this he'd also been trying to see what he could manage in relation to his new position.

He'd found that if he wanted, he could leave any class without a single student or even his teacher seeming to realize he'd gone. They all saw him leave, but something about the confidence in his walk made them ignore it and not even remember at all later. The rest of HFH was a little confused as to why he snuck out after curfew in the evenings, but if they tried to follow him, they seemed to lose him amongst the shadows within moments. Because of his superior senses he could identify anyone approaching him from quite a distance and, as Harry had suggested, when he tested himself he realized he truly had noted every aspect of each room he entered. All in all he couldn't help but feel a little modest pride in his abilities but he kept them to himself, having never been one to boast, and knowing exactly how stupid it would be for the head of Intelligence to tell everyone how good he was at his job.

Harry had given Dean and Draco the task of organizing the next kidnapping to try and hone their abilities and make sure they were up for their jobs. Draco was sorting through their options, seeing whose disappearance would give off what message to the public and other the forces while Dean was figuring out the best ways to get the students out with the new security measures and the general level of alert raised. It wasn't until the day before the due kidnappings that they'd gotten it all worked out.

The first person Draco had selected to leave the next day was Dennis Creevey. He selected him because he was another of Dumbledore's publicized students and he and his brother were considered as light as one could get, simply because they were so insanely fond of Harry. Since it was yet to occur to anyone that the students could be anything but innocent victims; this would not only eliminate Harry from _ever_ coming into suspicion, but it would also reduce Dumbledore's public image. The public would start to wonder that if this was how protected Dumbledore's favorites were, what could happen to those who supported him in general?

The next student he picked was Rachel Van Bracht, a Slytherin from an old family of staunch supporters of the dark side. He knew that if he only took Dumble's people then Voldemort would take that as a signal that the old man was losing his grip on Hogwarts and would launch a new attack on the light side, something Harry and his force did _not_ want to get trapped in the middle of. With Rachel's disappearance wizarding world which currently assumed that Voldemort was behind the whole thing, would finally come to the same conclusions that Hogwarts had arrived at, those being that someone new was using Hogwarts as their personal plaything.

The next two he picked were first year Ravenclaws Delaney Klaud, and Penelope Footswitch. Though these two both had loving families, their grief over the students' disappearance would not be displayed openly to the wizarding world. No, these two were selected for a localized reason. Some of the senior Ravenclaws were already upset about the new rules limiting what they could achieve, and the fact that the new rules had not prevented the loss of two of their youths would likely infuriate them far greater then Dumbledore could ever expect. With Delaney and Penelope's disappearances, quite a few of the senior students would stop supporting Dumbledore entirely, leaving them open to the suggestions of Daphne and her recruiters.

Dean had decided that they needed to do something rather spectacular this time. So far, no one could attest to seeing one of the kidnappings. They'd had the blood stains in the first round and the vanishing act in the second, but it had only left room for rumors and what Harry and co. wanted was exaggerations.

Dean spent hours the night before the kidnapping rehearsing with the supposed victims to get everything perfect before he finally returned to the dorm and thus forced Harry to stay awake for the rest of the night to keep him calm and rational as fears of failure started to overtake the taller Gryffindor.

* * *

The next evening at dinner, Dennis, Rachel, Delaney, and Penelope were the first to arrive. They wandered along their tables and found seats close to where they usually sat with their friends. Dean knew that someone would figure out that the four victims were the first to arrive, but the assumption would be that they had been taken because of this and not because they went to sit in specifically designated seats. Despite this, it wasn't until after the head boy and girl had determined that everyone was present that things started to happen. 

It had all begun with a loud, repetitive beeping about half way through the main course. The students all looked around curiously as the noise got louder and louder while the teachers drew their wands warily. It was only the muggleborn students though who actually started getting ready to move and fast, probably because they recognized it as the warning tone used in most public facilities before the possibility of an evacuation. After two minutes of the loud alarm, it changed into what the muggleborns instantly recognized as an emergency evacuation tone, the loud squeal raising in pitch for a few seconds before dropping to a low drone only to start getting higher again. Hermione Granger seemed prepared to take control and start leading students out but Dumbledore, apparently ignorant of these warnings, motioned her to sit back down and the teachers began spreading out through the hall to try and figure out the cause of the problem.

The students, now assured that they didn't need to go anywhere, instead turned to each other to try and figure out what the noise was.

"This tone was picked out specifically for its annoyance." Harry could hear one muggleborn Ravenclaw student shouting above the racket, "It's designed to be completely impossible to ignore, even over some distance."

"So basically we're now hearing quite literally the most irritating sound in existence." Another student continued.

"I thought that was the Crazy Frog?" A younger Gryffindor asked the pair in confusion.

"Well… yes, but the emergency tone is supposed to force people to leave the area not curl up in a ball on the floor and rock backward and forward muttering something about killing all humans." The first Ravenclaw justified.

The Gryffindor seemed about to say something but stopped when the sound suddenly ceased. The phrase 'silent as the grave' seemed to reach new levels as everyone sat frozen on the spot, just waiting to see what would happen.

The peace was broken by Penelope Footswitch who suddenly gave a loud shriek that turned all eyes toward her. Her friends stared in shock as she suddenly began rising into the air, struggling all the way. A couple of nearby fourth years started casting _finite incantum _but to no affect. Professor Flitwick rushed over to his student and began casting every cancellation and grounding spell he knew while her friends tried to get a grip on her legs. Dumbledore was just on his way over from near the Gryffindor table when Dennis gave a yell.

The elderly headmaster looked on in horror as the boy rose out of his seat at a rate much faster then Penelope's rather sedate pace. He too began casting spells as Colin leapt in the air and hung off his brother's ankles for a moment before apparently loosing grip and landing in a gravy boast, spattering its contents all over Dennis' friend Natalie.

The teachers all began looking along the tables at the students who all began checking themselves for signs that they too might suddenly feel inclined to reach for the skies. It was with these checks that Rachel Van Bracht realized that she too had been levitating, but a lot slower then the others, having only managed around three inches in the past few minutes. Being a Slytherin, she behaved in a more sensible fashion then Penelope and Dennis had and simply raised her hand in the air and informed Professor Snape that she was "having a few problems over here". He and Professor Sinestra also began casting spells but all were in vain.

Perhaps the teachers may have felt a little better about their apparent incompetence if they had known what they were dealing with. Currently in play were pre-cast spells from seven of their Hogwarts students, namely the local members of the core unit, along with runic wards blocking intrusion. This was coupled with impenetrable werewolf blood magic, a craft that had never been shared with the wizarding world, but was easily managed by any werewolf of more then a few years in age.

Many of the first years began to cry as Penelope was reduced to pleading sobs. The girl had shown many how afraid of heights she was when on the journey across the lake her boat had been upturned with a fair heave sending her flying into the air. Her screams of fear were well remembered and none of the students knew that once the girl had reached two meters up during her current journey, a small table visible only to her had appeared under her feet. Currently she was over eight meters up so her apparent fear was understandable.

Dennis had recently overtaken her and was almost twelve meters up when he suddenly seemed to be sucked into some sort of invisible vacuum. Colin gave a yell of horror and the two other floaters redoubled their struggles. Patrick momentarily decided to take it upon himself to rescue them and, after a dramatic screech of "I'll save you!" he took a running leap up onto the Ravenclaw table and then up into the air, coming short two and a half meters from Penelope's outstretched hands.

Only a minute or two later a now trembling Penelope disappeared in the same fashion. All the teachers moved over to Rachel, now obviously desperately trying anything they could think of. When she was about eleven meters up and the entire school was in hysterics there came a blood curdling yell from the Ravenclaw table and Delaney Klaud catapulted up in the air, reaching the key height only seconds later and was sucked away as the others had been.

Rachel stilled completely as she reached the right height, apparently having decided to leave with all the dignity a Slytherin should possess.

Once she'd gone there was yet another resounding silence throughout the hall before many of the younger students started to cry and the older ones shouted their anger out toward each other and the teachers in frustration. At the Slytherin table Daphne could be seen talking animatedly to Ariel Borthew and Miguel Pascato who were nodding in agreement to whatever she was saying. Draco had a comforting arm around Rachel's friend Felicity Noms, already a minion. Harry turned to Colin and began a rather obvious effort to cheer him up slightly while the rest of his so called minions either faked sobs, had screaming matches with each other, or sat silently in apparent shock.

It took Dumbledore a fair amount of time to gain his students' attentions but once he had, he informed them all that they were to go immediately back to their common rooms.

* * *

"I'd say that went down quite well wouldn't you?" Dean commented to Harry as the two changed into more relaxed clothing in the dorm, both knowing they'd be up for a while comforting students from the younger years. 

"I do agree Mister Thomas. The invisible portkeys were a stroke of genius on your part and, I must formally add… I told you so."

Dean blushed as he remembered how long he'd kept the other boy awake last night voicing his worries.

"Yeah, sorry about that. D'you think you'll manage to stay awake through this?"

"I should be alright; I did manage to get some sleep before you jumped on me and woke me up." Harry assured him.

"Cool. So… I'm guessing quite a few of the older students will be down there."

"Yeah, Hermione has already started trying to comfort the first years." Harry laughed, "I can't wait to see what sort of stuff they launch on her."

"Should be a pretty decent show." Dean agreed before looking at Harry strangely.

"What?" Harry finally asked, a bit annoyed at his gaze.

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking something. Umm…" Dean took a deep breath and rubbed a hand across his face, "Hey, would you like to go with me to Hogsmeade on the next trip and just well, hang out or something?" He said in a bit of a rush.

Harry froze in the process of pulling his sweater over his head. Slowly, he pulled it down and looked at Dean skeptically.

"Are you asking me out?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well… sort of." Dean looked sheepish, "Are you saying yes?"

Harry blinked twice and then grinned at him.

"No." He said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world before walking out of the dorm, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Note to some: I warned you! I said I was evil! I said to stop nagging me about getting them together! Now you'll have to deal with the consequences of my boredom. (Not you falseproffitt, you didn't know) 

Now:

Review or Dean suicides.

Review lots and next chapter features **THE RETURN OF PATRICK!** See? I can be nice.

Both Natwest and I have agreed that this story needs a second beta. She is very good at editing, but I'm starting to need more spelling and grammar checking (my sister and a couple of you guys have informed me I'm lapsing again). If you're good at spotting that sort of stuff and feel like helping me out, please let me know.

That is all.


	14. Pa' Que Bailen Los Muchachos

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I lied. I blame extenuating circumstances. I've updated now anyway so you can't just start complaining for the fun of it. Anyway, the **pairing poll** is still going, but not for much longer. It ends when I post the next chapter of Replay so you don't have long left.

Currently in the lead is Charlie Weasley, followed by Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Personally, I'm hoping for Charlie, but I'll take what I get. The nominees are:  
_Blaise,  
Seamus,  
Charlie,  
Marcus Flint,  
Oliver,  
Percy,  
Theodore Nott,  
Victor,  
Kingsley,  
Padma,  
Pansy,  
Lisa Turpin,  
Penelope Clearwater,  
Tonks,  
Sally-Anne,  
Susan,  
Angelina,  
Alicia,  
and Katie_.

You are hereby forbidden to complain about the eventual choice unless you vote! Oh, and remember that this is for a **new** story, not one of the pre-existing stories (some people were strangely confused by that).

Finally, thanks heaps to Black-Lightening-8080 who is the new beta for this story. NATWEST is of course still around, but both she and I agreed we needed the extra help with this one. So yeah, thanks guys, you're both tops.

**Chapter 14**

"What the _fuck_?"

"Something I can help you with darling?" Harry raised an eyebrow at the snarling Ginny and shooed the first year he was 'counselling' back to the common room to go call Hermione insensitive for a while.

"Oh don't even _try_ to talk your way out of this one mister!" Ginny shook a finger at him threateningly, "Did you just reject Dean?"

"How the hell do you know about that?" Harry threw up some silencing wards. He and Ginny were currently the only people in the 3rd year boys' dorm; its usual residents had been kicked out a short time ago so that Harry could get away from the crowds in the common room. He would have gone to the first year dorms but it had been reported that Ron had already wandered through them three or four times for no apparent reason except to try and look important. Harry certainly wasn't going back to his own dorm where, as far as he knew, Dean was still sitting. Sure, he didn't regret what he'd done but he wasn't going to walk back in front of the other boy for a while yet.

"I have my ways," Ginny shrugged, "What the hell were you thinking? How could you do that to him?"

"Well what else was I supposed to do?" Harry shouted back, "I can't date him."

"Give me one good reason why not."

"Well, I'm supposed to be dating you, I'm trying to take over the wizarding world thus not leaving much time for real dating, oh and Dumbledore is already suspicious enough of Dean as it is."

"This is not a time for logic and rationality Harry!" Ginny shouted back.

Harry cracked a smile.

"You know, while you can be very vocal when you get upset, you tend to make less and less sense the further you let your emotions run Gin."

"Fuck off Harry," Ginny sighed and slumped down next to him on one of the beds, "Sorry for shouting at you."

"'Sokay, I probably deserved it."

"So you rejected Dean because of how impractical it was then." Ginny confirmed.

"No, I mean yes, but I don't know if I would have said yes anyway." Harry looked flustered as Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, "I mean he's _Dean_. I never even thought I was gay Ginny."

"Oh don't be ridiculous Harry, of course you did." Ginny reassured him.

"I'm sorry… what?"

"Well I mean, you've had the opportunity of dating any girl in this school you wanted," Ginny started to explain, "But the only one you've truly dated has been Cho. May I remind you of your description of your first kiss with her? Wet. Not exactly a typical response from any hormonally driven teenager."

"She was crying Ginny."

"Once again, you are a hormonally driven teenager. I can assure you, Ron wouldn't have cared if she'd been bawling her eyes out, he still would have described it as fucking hot. Either way, you've clearly been gay for years. You practically hero worshipped Oliver-"

"Perfectly justifiable, he was the captain of the Quidditch team. I looked up to him."

"You perved at him in the showers Harry. Don't worry, he didn't really mind. Next of course was Cedric who you became just a bit enamoured with. Your jealousy thing then was a clear give away-"

"He was dating Cho; I had a crush on _her_."

"Shut up Harry, this is _my_ monologue. Oh, and you can't tell me you don't have a thing for Malfoy. You pay far too much attention to him. Luckily for Dean; Malfoy's completely straight, as is evident by the fact that he's basically the Hogwarts playboy. We also have your slight obsession with my older brothers. Sure I'll agree you certainly don't want to date any of them, but you cannot tell me you haven't been checking some of them out. No not Ron, don't look so outraged. No one wants to check _him_ out." Ginny said, making a face.

"And finally we have Dean. A rather fine specimen you haven't stopped looking at even for a moment during the past few weeks. You're constantly helping him with something at our training sessions just so you can be close to him, and you make up excuses to accompany him all over the place," Ginny leant back with a satisfied smirk, "Now my dear Harry, try and justify your way out of those."

Harry looked at her pleadingly for a moment before sighing.

"I really am quite gay aren't I?"

"The first step is admitting it Harry. The second is going and giving an explanation to Dean."

* * *

Dean, however, was not ready to be found. He had left the Gryffindor tower shortly after his encounter with Harry, and was currently making his way towards the Hufflepuff dorms to speak with his brother, stopping every few moments to cringe in embarrassment over what he'd just done. Having been friends with Seamus for several years he was fairly used to ending up in humiliating situations but, if Harry's reaction was anything to go by, there was no way he was going to be able to live this one down. 

Reaching the large urn that hid the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, Dean settled down to wait for a student to come by and pass a message to Hamish. He had only been there a few minutes though when he heard some familiar voices from one of the nearby classrooms.

"Will one of you _please_ shut him up?"

"Hamish you know as well as we do, that's easier said then done."

"How the hell am I supposed to concentrate on sorting through this list if he's bawling away in the background? I think this is the worst one yet."

"Stuff celery sticks in your ears. That's what Leonia's done."

"It could be worse. He could be singing again."

Dean slowly got up and headed towards the door, wincing as the familiar voice of Patrick Granger rose an octave.

"Georgina! You are my heart, my soul. I will die without you! If you don't profess to hold a love as strong as mine I will throw myself from this table to my _death_!"

"Dramatic much?" Dean heard Georgina mutter from somewhere close to the door.

"And this is supposed to win her over… _how_?" Dean's younger brother burst out again with a wail, making his sibling grin from where he stood out in the hall.

"Oh I am _so_ not trying to explain how his mind works Hamish."

"_Fine_! If you don't profess true love for me, I'll throw _you_ off the table."

"I'm not even _on_ the table Patrick," Georgina snapped back, seemingly tired of Patrick's behaviour.

"That can change."

Dean cautiously pushed the door open and eased around the bickering first years to where Andrew Forester sat.

"What's he doing?" He asked, nodding towards Patrick.

"This is his attempt at wooing Georgina," Andrew whispered back, smiling shyly but still shifting a little away from his fellow core member, "My guess is that someone finally told him the singing thing doesn't work so well when you're eleven. I'm not sure if this is much of an improvement though."

"Maybe I should have tried singing," Dean murmured to himself.

"No, that probably would have been a bad idea. The person you were wooing would probably react in the same way that Georgina has to this." Andrew said, looking towards Georgina who had backed up against the wall looking like a cornered rabbit and quite obviously trying to think of a how to get away from the advancing boy, "It was worse earlier when he was attempting a traditional troll love balladtitled _I'm going to tear your arms off and eat them_."

"Dean?" Hamish finally noticed his older brother, "What are you doing here?"

Hamish's comment caused Patrick to shut up and take notice, giving Georgina a chance to leap past him and duck to hide behind Andrew. The young werewolf was used to being a shield from Patrick by now and didn't even flinch when the terrified girl gripped hold of the back of his robes.

"I was coming to find you just to talk," Dean explained, "Then I heard his bellowing and your voice so I came to investigate. What are you all doing here?"

"Er…" Hamish trailed off and looked at the others.

"It's a secret," Leonia came to his rescue, "We can't tell you what we do. We can't even tell you our real identities."

"Um, I already know who you all are."

"He's smarter then he looks," Joseph muttered in an overly loud voice, "We must shift his focus elsewhere, lest our missions be discovered." He cleared his throat loudly, "So… how's the weather over in Gryffindor?"

Dean looked at him for a long moment and then sighed.

"Well, the weather is basically the same as here."

"Okay then," Joseph's eyelid twitched once, "So… um… how's life?"

"I just made a complete idiot of myself," Dean said with tired smile before slumping down next to his brother.

"Aww, Dean," Hamish gave him a hug, "Did you try and fly your broom off of the bookcase again?"

"Er… no."

"Eat a tub of butter and then get chased around by Crookshanks for an hour?"

"Thank Merlin no."

"Rob a bank and mistakenly drop photo ID on the way out?"

"That would be dumb even for me."

"Accidentally confess to thinking that Professor McGonagall is one sexy beast?"

"Good god Hamish, where do you come up with this stuff?"

"I heard Dumbledore say it to Professor Vector."

"…Oh _eww_! Mental image!" Dean slapped his hands to his forehead and shook his head thoroughly.

"Well, if it's not that, I'm all out of ideas," Hamish shrugged, "Anyone?"

The first years all looked at each other for a minute before Andrew gave a sigh.

"Dean," he began, "Did you by any chance just get rejected by our dear Mister Potter?"

"How the heck did you get that one?" Dean said.

"Well, I picked up hints that you had a thing from him from the way you always stare at him. Then I guessed you'd asked him out and been rejected when you told me a minute ago that perhaps you should have tried singing. It was a no-brainer."

"_Nice_ Andrew."

"Thank-you Patrick."

"Damn Dean, you asked out Harry Potter?" Hamish looked stunned. Half ready to laugh, half ready to cry.

"Yeah, but it turns out I was judging the situation a little wrong."

"How wrong?" Leonia looked hopeful.

"A laugh and a straight _no_ wrong."

"… Ah," She looked down at her lap for a moment before glancing up again, "Patrick," she asked innocently, "How many times have you asked Georgina to date you?"

"Um, um, um, um, um, I think it's about seven now. No wait, six. No eight. How many?" Patrick looked over at Georgina who glared out at them from behind Andrew. Apparently her higher then average level of tolerance for Patrick's singing didn't stretch far enough to allow troll ballads.

"Well, _clearly_ Patrick, your motto has been…" Leonia looked at her friend hopefully.

"Never drink milk while eating chilli?"

"Patrick, your motto has been _If at first you don't succeed: try, try again_. Doesn't that make more sense?"

"I suppose."

"Yes. And you keep trying _because_…"

"She is very, very cute?"

"No damn it Patrick. Well, _yes_, but that's not the reason I was looking for. You keep trying because you hold belief that she may change her mind. Because you feel she may have feelings for you. And maybe she does."

"No I don't."

"Georgina, can you not contradict me while I'm trying to show Dean my point?"

"Yay! Georgina loves me with all her very being," Patrick suddenly squealed, earning a wince from all the other's present.

Leonia rolled her eyes at him, "Merlin, you have got to be the most annoying person in the universe."

"And you look like a horse, but you don't hear me talking about it."

"Leonia no!" Joseph shrieked out girlishly, tackling his friend before she could lunge at Patrick, who of course remained blissfully unaware of how close he'd just come to dying.

"So Dean, are you all in love with Harry and then he just shot you down because that's what I think is going on. Was that what you were talking about? Did I get it right? Did I? Did I? Did I? You should be part of our club. We're called HFH which stands for… actually I've forgotten what it stands for, but Hamish or Leonia would remember. My memory can be kind of bad sometimes, but it's still pretty good. Like I remember Hermione telling me that a troll came here to Hogwarts once. Hey, I know a troll song too! Something about removing body parts. I've never seen a troll so I'm hoping one will come again soon. Did the last one have green skin and purple hair like the little ones you can get in the games arcade because they're reeeeally cool! Like dragons. Did I tell you I want a dragon?"

Dean stared at Patrick for a moment before turning to face Andrew.

"Never, _ever_ let him drink coffee," He instructed him sagely and received a 'duh' look in return, "Look, I'll see all of you later okay? Thanks for all the proverbial assistance."

"No problems," Hamish shrugged before ushering his brother to the door, "Remember; _you didn't see anything_."

"Yes I did."

"Perhaps he is not so intelligent after all," Joseph muttered, "Dean, Dean, Dean, my poor dim-witted, laughable friend. You saw things but you must pretend you didn't if anyone asks. Honestly. Haven't you ever read a comic book?"

* * *

"Hey Dean, I've been looking everywhere for you," Harry looked up at the other boy anxiously as he walked into their dorm room. 

"Hi Harry, I just went to talk with my brother. Did you know that a group of the first year Hufflepuffs think they're in some sort of Super Hero group?"

"Yeah, it's pretty funny. Was Patrick singing?"

"No not this time, but Leonia was talking about his relationship in this deeply symbolic way as though it was supposed to mean something significant to me. Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Hey, no, I'm sorry about earlier," Harry shuffled awkwardly on the spot, "The way I acted was uncalled for. I owe you an explanation."

"Er… okay."

"It's not that I'm not interested in giving it a shot, but, with circumstances as they are at the moment, it's not as though we could exactly go on a… _date_ or anything at Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, I can see that. Like I said, I don't know what I was thinking."

"Well, for future reference; if we are ever in circumstances that more easily allow for… _dates_ and the like, and when I don't have a fake girlfriend, then I'd certainly be interested."

"Um… cool."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"This is really awkward."

* * *

25th September 

"Okay everyone, thanks for showing up to core meeting number two. I know I said that in general we would meet once a fortnight but, while this is relatively new and we're making a lot of movement in all departments, I think we'll keep these as once a week occurrences," Harry explained to the gathering around him, "Now, we'll start by going round in a circle. Hi, I'm Harry and I'm an alcoholic."

"Ha ha ha Harry," Dean said dryly while the others looked confused, "Now can you tell us what you actually want done?"

"I'd like you all to begin by just giving me a run down on what you've done this week with your departments. Daphne, we'll start with you."

"Before we do I would like to point out that I still want the conditions on my contract to be negotiated, preferably to include life insurance from now on," Daphne glared at Harry, "I started out, as you all saw, by running auditions for anyone wanting to be in my department, but those were really just for fun. I haven't yet selected anyone specifically, but I have my eye on Simone Cloris one of Erika's friends from Slytherin, and Carla Manné a Ravenclaw sixth year."

"I didn't know we had any sixth year Ravenclaws." Harry interrupted.

"Quiet," Daphne snapped back at him, "It's still my turn to speak. There are rules you know; you sit down, I start talking, I change your life, then you give me your undying devotion and we can all go home. It's simple really. I don't know where you got mixed up with it."

"Get to the point Daphne."

"As I was about to say, Carla is one of my newest recruits. Many of the Ravenclaws are pissed off about the new rules that got introduced after the second kidnapping because now they don't get to study during lunch hours. It's taken me a while to get them to start paying attention to us, but since they're now not so happy with Dumbledore; they were fairly receptive. I have Ruth Freeman from fourth year, twins Pia and Estéban Borges from fifth, Henk Olin and Carla Manné from sixth, and one seventh year Noilani Bungbrakearti. I've also got two new Slytherins. You remember Carmen's older sister Ariel Borthew who made a scene during Dumbledore's speech after the second kidnapping? Well we now have her and her boyfriend Miguel Pascato."

"So we have access to the Pascato family then. Wonderful."

"Miguel isn't in charge yet, he's just the heir, but I'm sure we could convince him to take one of us to his grandfather to petition our cause," Draco interrupted, "If we can convince the old man then we'll have a very strong influence in the political field. Not so much in Britain, but in parts of South America the Pascato family is practically royalty. It would be very useful to have connections there as a back up plan if Haven get's discovered in Italy."

"What is it with you lot and interrupting me?"

"Sorry Daphne, go ahead."

"I was finished actually."

"Fabulous. Ginny? How about you?"

"Daphne told me who was recruited so everyone of the right age has a copy of the book. We've had a few problems with the third years; Penelope and Mavek have been picking on Felicity as the last non-kidnapped Slytherin. Felicity in turn has been rather harsh while defending herself against them. I've given all three a stern talking to and I'll think they'll respect that house alliances have no place in the training room. If it happens again I'll devise a sensible punishment. Colin is missing his brother but I'm keeping him occupied by organizing photographs of training procedures to go in the book so that Erika knows where we are up to and can train the Haven residents more confidently. Finally Harry, you and I have to go visit Haven tomorrow to make sure everything is working. I'm sure Erika is doing wonderfully, but we need to do another security check and perhaps do another tour if we have the time."

"Have you picked anyone to work with you for your department?" Remus asked curiously.

"Luna's been helping me out a fair bit, but I personally think she'd do better in one of the other departments so I haven't laid a claim on her talents."

"Which department?"

"I'm waiting for the leader of that one to figure it out themself."

"Thanks Ginny, at least I can count on _you_ to do your job," Harry said with a look toward Daphne.

"I resent that!" Daphne cried out loudly, "I've done my job perfectly. You're just pissed because I won't work my arse off without receiving something in return."

"Daphne, for the last time, I am not giving you dental."

"Bastard."

"Naturally. Dean?"

"Apart from the fourth kidnapping I've no plans for attack coming up. Instead I've spent my time deciding who will join my department. Since everyone will be involved in one way or another in attacks, I've decided to narrow my search field to deciding upon leaders, Generals of a sort. I'll be picking about ten people, perhaps more, who will lead any minor attacks that you or I cannot. I'll get Erika to assist me in training them up to be the best fighters and I'll teach them to lead small groups in attack and defensive situations."

"That sounds like a well grounded plan, who did you have in mind?"

"I'm mostly leaning towards the Slytherins. A lot of the pure blood families start training their heirs to fight effectively and be leaders when they are only quite young. If they're already trained up it will be a lot easier for me. At the moment I'm considering the new recruits Ariel Borthew and Miguel Pascato. I might also take Theodore Nott, and I'm considering Felicity Noms if she can get her temper under control and not rise to the bait each time a couple of Gryffindors make a comment. I'm actually also contemplating Colin Creevey. He's always seemed fairly weak, inclined to follow someone else, but I've been watching him in training and not only does he pick up techniques very efficiently, but he also keeps the younger students in line. If he doesn't work out for me then I'd suggest that you take him Erika to help with training."

"I'll keep it in mind. If that is the case it would have to wait until he's at Haven where I can see how good he is, how he relates to others and all."

"Draco?"

"The public is starting to take notice. A couple of articles have been published, mostly stating how little Dumbledore and the Ministry are doing to prevent us, but nothing particularly mind blowing. The general public isn't truly taking us seriously yet and until that happens; I can't start any propaganda campaigns to sway them towards us. Dean, once the kidnappings are taken care of, I'll need to work with you to organize some attacks in other areas. We can wait until after Halloween though. Daphne, this week I'll need you to start circulating a few select rumours. I'll give you the details later."

"How much is it worth to you?"

"Daphne, any mentions of benefits or pay will just be sent back to Harry so you may as well just bug him about it because I'm not going to pay any attention."

"Arsehole."

"Will you show a little maturity Daphne!?" Hannah cut in, a little sick of the other girls constant complaints.

"I am being mature! This is a mature and intellectual debate. I am maturely arguing that we should negotiate a fair and equal contract that clearly defines all scenarios, and you're all big, fat, meany, poo heads."

"_Silencio_!" Andrew finally shut her up.

"Now why didn't I think of that?" Harry looked confused.

"Because I'm the head of Intelligence and you're not," Andrew replied calmly, "Don't feel bad, senility can have a heavy effect on your brain and no one is blaming you for it."

"You were nicer when you stuttered."

"True."

"How's your department going?"

"Nothing is really happening yet that's worth reporting. I've been looking through all the minions to pick some for my department and also to make sure they're all being honest about everything. You didn't really do a check on them when you started including them, so for all we know; Dumbledore already knows everything about our plans through some cleverly placed spies. As I said, I've nothing to tell you yet. I'll let you know next week."

"And you Remus?"

"I've been re-immersing myself within the non human scene. Someone is stirring up the Vampires, but that's probably still Voldemort trying to recruit. I'm keeping an eye on it anyway. The Goblins are not talking to anyone currently. Someone pissed them off with some forgeries that got past them and you know how they pride themselves in that area. Again, I'm keeping an eye on it."

"And your houseguest?"

"I still can't tell you about that Harry. I want to, but I can't."

"_Fine_. Be that way then. Hannah?"

"Everything is hidden. There are passwords and the like to access almost anything related to our cause. Andrew and I have been keeping contact, and so far no one is snooping where they shouldn't be."

"Erika?"

"All Haven training is on schedule and everyone has settled in. I'll give you a detailed plan of how we're operating over there as soon as you arrive tomorrow."

"Jeez. It looks like you've all done pretty well then."

"We're taking over your revolution," Daphne informed him with an evil laugh, "You are no longer of use to us and as such we shall simply overpower you and feed your intestines to Theodore's pet piranhas."

"Good luck with that," Harry replied mildly before frowning, "Nott has pet piranhas? I want some!"

"I'll get you some for Christmas," Ginny said absently, "Now, I believe you were going to continue on to another point?"

"Mind reader. Well, I was thinking it was about time we let them all in on…" Harry paused dramatically, "_The plan_!"

"What! You mean there's an actual plan behind this whole world domination thing?" Daphne put on a mock stunned expression, "And here I thought we were just going to wing it."

"It's not a world domination plan Daphne," Harry said with exasperation, "I have no wish to rule the world. You wouldn't believe how much time an energy that would take, not to mention the paper work. No, I'll leave those grandiose schemes to our dear friend Lord Voldemort thank-you very much. The plan I was referring to was my plan for what will happen between now and when we all leave for Haven. Well, all of us except for a few spies of course. There's no point vacating a position and not leaving someone behind to keep track of everything."

"Oh I see," Daphne leant forward and rested her chin on her clasped hands, "Do tell us then Harry darling."

"You're taking all the fun out of this Daphne."

"Maybe for you."

"As Harry said, we're not interested in world domination," Ginny continued for her distracted friend, "We do however wish to make substantial changes in political environments around the world. We will begin in select areas, influencing first Hogwarts, then the local wizarding population, and then moving on to Britain as a whole, and finally to across the continent. We will be working on gaining power and prestige globally, but the more distant locations will not be involved in our coming events. For now, we'll just be focussing on Britain and Hogwarts in particular."

"We'll be here for a while yet, with the obvious exception being those being 'kidnapped' over the past few and coming few weeks. Of course, _those_ people will play a highly important role in the aim of getting the rest of us out of here."

"A little bit of a heads-up would have been great on this one Harry," Erika frowned at him and pulled out a pen to take notes.

"Sorry, I forgot," Harry shrugged, "Ginny will be joining Haven some time in one of the coming batches of kidnap victims. Once she gets there, they are going to start a political campaign."

"In Italy?" Daphne interrupted with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Who took the spell of Daphne?" Harry glared around at them all, "Speak up, or you'll _all_ suffer the consequences."

"_Silencio,_" Andrew tucked his wand away and looked at the now mutely fuming Harry, "You really should have seen that coming Harry."

"As Harry was going to say, yes we do want power in Italy." Ginny continued, "Not us _personally_, but in the next election, we want the winning candidate to have been hand picked by us. If we have Italy supporting us and our beliefs, then no one from this ministry or even any of Dumbledore's minions will be able to attack us there without getting a _lot_ of bad publicity from it."

"Genius," Daphne stated flatly, "Of course, one of our big issues _is_ Voldemort, who I doubt is going to be upset over a slight drop in the polls now. I doubt the Italians are going to appreciate us getting him to cross onto their soils."

"No, that's not going to happen," Draco told her, his eyes gleaming strangely, "Voldemort tried to set up his little gang of thugs there last time. It turns out they already had more then enough organized crime there and they weren't exactly responsive to Voldemort's efforts. I hear old snake face still has nightmares about it sometimes."

"I know," Harry said smugly, "I'm rather proud of them."

"How'd you get the charm off? No wait, you've been giving Voldemort nightmares?"

"I thought it was time to return the favour," Harry said, "Once Ginny leaves here, she and the other Haven folk will start to schmooze with the assorted political groups. They'll pick the one they like most, and help them win the next election."

"When is it held specifically?"

"The Italian magical system holds their's in March and they keep power for three years unless something drastic happens which calls for re-election." Draco informed them, obviously loving this idea.

"Draco, all this sort of falls in your department," Ginny said, almost apologetically, "I'm going to be setting everything up for you, but we're planning on transferring you over to Haven around the Christmas-New Year period so you can take over."

"That works for me. I studied Italian when I was younger, but I'll brush up my language skills and relearn their political and social situation."

"Aw, isn't that kind of you," Ginny smirked slightly for some reason, "Now, once I've left here there are all sorts of things that you lot will still need to do. Firstly, training will be increased. We can't expect the Italians to fight in any of our battles, so every one of Harry's minions has to be trained and prepared to fight in this war. Erika will of course be training those in Haven, and Dean and Harry will be in charge of that here. In both locations, the training will be increased to include not only spell work, but also physical ability."

"That won't be a problem at Haven," Erika cut in, "We began including physical training as soon as we got there. We've been mostly focussing on evasion tactics, stances, basic defensive techniques, and positioning. It doesn't matter how good you are with a wand if someone comes up behind you and hits you on the head."

"That sounds good, but we'll need you to increase the physical training to include attacks, not only defence."

"My family's been dark for generations Harry; I've been trained to fight since I was an infant. Not only have I been taught to attack with magic, but also with martial arts and most weapons as well. I was even taught to fight using muggle equipment. My family leaves nothing to chance when it comes to defending possible heirs."

"How useful."

"Indeed. You'll find a lot of the students from older families are trained similarly. Most of us are miles ahead of the rest of you in curriculum when we start here. It's not to say we're better then you, only that we've had previous exposure to most of the material."

"Draco? Daphne?" Harry looked at them both questioningly.

"Draco has, but I haven't," Daphne spoke for both of them, "My family is not truly that old, nor traditionally as dark as the families of many of my fellow snakes. I tended to bluff and pose a lot in my first few years. It was pure luck that I was intelligent enough to seem more advanced," Daphne's mouth twitched at the corner in an almost smile, "Professor Snape of course knew I hadn't been trained up by a neurotic family, which is why he actually recognized my talent at potions. You see; I am somewhat of a genius in all subjects, but my gift goes unnoticed, simply thought to be the cockiness of a pre-trained Slytherin," she sighed, "It's so difficult to be brilliant."

"And here I thought Harry had the biggest ego out of our group." Remus commented mildly.

"_Anyway_," Ginny tried to pull the discussion back on topic, "Throughout the training process, Harry and Dean have another job. Well, mainly it's Dean's job, but I'm sure Harry will find an excuse to help him out with it."

"Oh you noticed that too huh?" Daphne looked delighted.

"Noticed what?" Dean looked confused while Harry alternated between glaring at Ginny and glaring at Daphne.

"Do you honestly mean to tell me that you hadn't noticed this particular trait of Harry's?" Ginny looked startled, "But it's been directed completely at you. I would have thought you'd be the first to see it."

"Dean's not the only one who's confused by this, I'm completely lost too," Draco told them as Remus and Erika nodded in agreement.

"And here you four are supposed to be part of an elite group of people designed to control a revolution," Hannah scolded them with a pout and a toss of her hair, "I'm just going to have to kick you out of the core."

"Will someone _please_ tell me what it is Harry's doing that I'm supposed to have noticed?" Dean waved his arms about, trying desperately to attract attention.

"Do I really have to repeat that whole reassurance thing Leonia put on for you the other day?" Andrew turned to him in exasperation, "I thought once we'd cleared that up for you all of this would have made sense."

"What, the Patrick talk?"

"_Yes_ Dean, the _Patrick_ talk. Yeesh. I told Joseph you were as dumb as you looked, but he insisted you'd figured it all out. He even made Patrick change his code name."

"What code name?"

"See? There wasn't even a point to _that_ change." Andrew looked pissed, "Mister Harry; your core unit is thicker then concrete."

"I know Andrew, but they're too much fun for me to just have them all killed," Harry explained.

"So they're simply entertainment?"

"Exactly! I'm glad to see you're catching on," Ginny looked delighted.

"You know, it's kind of offensive to talk about us like that. We are still here you know."

"Some of them do have a bit of a tendency to state the obvious, but we just pass that off as part of their charm," Harry shrugged, "They can be kind of cute when they're all riled up like this."

"Still standing right here!"

"The repetitiveness can grate on one's nerves a little, but we were never expecting perfection out of them," Ginny sighed.

"Right beside you!"

"See what I mean?" she continued, indicating a pissed off Draco to her right.

"Alright, alright, as fun as this has been, we do need to move on," Ginny said sorrowfully, "The task which Dean has to work on is dividing up all the minions according to their strengths. While nothing is set in stone and people will still be shifted about; once basic training is completed, we will be placing people into specific categories to continue further schooling. Dean will need to decide who will be trained in defence, attack and infiltration, medicine and healing, diplomacy, and so on. Some will be sent to be trained by some of you, particularly Andrew, Daphne, and Draco. They will not necessarily become part of your department, they will simply be taught the necessary skills to apply to their positions."

"During this entire process," Harry said, "Draco will be working to build up our image in the public. Through his work, Daphne will then start to recruit other members of our society who are not Hogwarts residents. Daphne, you won't simply be building forces, we'll need you to particularly target people who can be of specific benefit. We need healers, trained fighters such as Aurors, lawyers, animal trainers for magical and non magical species, chefs, potion makers, ministry officials, and so on. Amongst them should be some individuals qualified to train us and the others in all those categories Ginny mentioned, plus any more which you think could be useful to us."

Draco and Daphne looked at each other for a moment before grinning wickedly.

"I think we can make this work," Draco said casually.

"Once I've got them, do you want them sent to Haven, or just left where they are?"

"We'll decide when the time comes."

"So after we've done all of these things; then what?" Remus asked.

They all looked at Harry.

"Then?" Harry raised an eyebrow, "Then we leave Hogwarts of course."

* * *

26th September 

"I still love your car Harry."

"Why thankyou Ginny, I'm so glad to hear it. It's the only reason I keep this old thing."

"Don't be cheeky Harry."

"Who me?"

Harry finally slowed his ridiculous speed, cruising calmly along the highway, watching as the blur of green he'd been passing clarified to show trees and grass whizzing past him. He continued to slow down until, by the time of their arrival, they were very nearly at the speed limit.

He pulled up the car and, in true gentlemanly fashion, rushed around to open and hold the door for Ginny. She elegantly eased herself out of the stylish vehicle and, once Harry had cast an illusion over the two-seater, they headed through the forest towards Haven.

Passing through the large doors, they made their way along the passage to the moving steel carving.

_Massster_ Suki moved to the centre of the door to greet them _You have been long absssent_

_Apologiess Sssuki, I have been kept bussssy. Have you anything to report to usss_

_Nothing of interessst. Your guesssts all arrived when you predicted. You have the passssword I presume_

"Gin? What did Hannah decide for the password?"

"Fix the problem, not the blame."

_Enjoy your visit Massster_

"Harry, Ginny," Erika met them inside as the door, "Did you have any trouble getting out of Hogwarts?"

Ginny flinched as the door slammed swiftly behind her.

"I doubt I'll ever get used to the speed of that thing," she muttered before smiling at Erika, "No problems. We're currently involved in a… er… romantic liaison in an unspecified area. Ron is covering for us if anyone asks. I'm surprised he accepted the responsibility but he seemed torn between the idea of his baby sister losing her innocence and the concept of Harry finally getting laid."

"Hey! What was the point of that comment?"

"Daphne couldn't make it tonight. I'm using all the opportune moments she's missing."

"Bitch."

"You love it."

"Let's move on before I strangle my second-in-command. Erika, would you mind filling us in on what's been going on here?"

"Um… sure thing Harry. The others are all eating at the moment so I'll just give you a rundown of everything now before demonstrating the training system," Erika indicated that they should walk with her, "We've chosen the common room closest to the library. Penelope, Delaney, Tilly, and Bae are in one dorm; Carmen, Patricia, Rachel, Naomi and I are in the second; and Michael, Damien and Dennis are in the third. Obviously we don't have any house elves here yet, so we've been taking it in turns to cook, wash and the like. We're eating at the benches in our kitchen instead of the main dining hall since there are only twelve of us; we didn't see the point of that much ceremony.

"We spend about three hours of the morning in the library studying the school curriculum, history, defence tactics, spell theory and the like. We all pair up so we can test each other before breaking for roughly an hour to eat and the like. After that we start on the practical side of everything. What we study changes day to day depending on what we focussed on in the morning.

"Some days we'll work on transfiguration, some days a potion. Everything we do though has a purpose. The potions are usually healing draughts or the like, the charms are basic household helpers to cut down on time, we transfigure things into weapons, food supplies, and other useful items. Then we take another break until about two or three in the afternoon. From then until dinner we work on your training. We take that pretty seriously since we know we lack the advantage the others have of the more experienced trainers and supervisors. We stop again to prepare dinner, which the others are currently eating, and then after dinner they can either practice or simply chill out in the dorms or common room."

"It sound pretty formless," Ginny looked worried, "Are you getting everything done?"

"Sure," Erika shrugged, "You forget that we don't take weekend breaks here. We have to keep everything casual or the younger students couldn't cope. We're trying to advance through a lot of schooling in a short amount of time. I think you'll be surprised as to how good they all are."

"She's pretty difficult to shock. I think she's psychic."

"No-one cares what you think Harry."

"See? She _knows_ things."

"Er, Harry? Everyone knows that."

"Stop ganging up on me both of you or I'll reassign you as the official revolution janitors."

"We'll be good," Erika squeaked before clearing her throat and getting back to business, "Is there anything else you need to be done here?"

"We just need to you keep everything in order. The cells up the end could probably do with some work," Ginny pursed her lips. "Harry just dug in a sort of passage way and made little hollows in the walls. If you could take the time to give it a stone floor and walls, oh and some bars and gates at the front of each cell to keep people in there, that would be great. You don't even have to make it gloomy. If you guys get bored you could paint some murals on the walls or something."

"No hot pink," Harry limited, "That would just be far too unprofessional. I've made contact with a couple of… well, shady characters. They should be here in a few days with some supplies. Food, weapons, house elves, and an assortment of new books for the library containing some… darker material. I'm paying them a fortune to keep their mouths shut, and I've promised them the best legal help if they ever need it, plus political immunity in half of Europe if we win this so there shouldn't be any risk of double crossing. No one could offer them more. If they do have other ideas however, a memory spell is triggered to wipe their minds entirely if they voluntarily approach someone with the idea of sharing confidential information. They know about it so they're not likely to risk it. Oh, and I've given them an immunisation against veritaserum so they're quite fond of me."

"Okay, we'll be ready to meet them. Please make sure they don't arrive on the same day as the next batch of kidnappees though. It would be too chaotic," Erika replied, "Now, did you want to see what we've been working on in training?"

* * *

Okay so that's all for this chapter folks. Remember to **vote** in the pairing poll or you won't end up with your favourite. Oh, and review. Always review. Or else I'll hate you. Maybe. 


	15. El Bailarin de la Avenida

_**Abandon Ship**_

Authors Note:

Hello readers. I would firstly like to apologise most sincerely for the huge delay. I've had a lot to deal with lately and as you may all have noticed; my fics had to take the back burner for a little while. I can't guarantee regular updates yet but I am doing my best to move forward with all my stories. For those of you who continually ask me: Yes that does include the Replay sequel and the Harry/Charlie paired story.

I should point out that I am still getting back into this writing thing. Be kind to me. The chapter's been beta-ed twice so I assure you it is readable and I will accept no comments that say otherwise!

Enough with the boring details! On with the story!

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Hogwarts Corridor

"Ginny!" the redhead in question turned to smile at the approaching figure.

"Why _Dad,_ this is a bit of a surprise. What are you doing here in ye old Hogwarts shire?"

"Ron asked me to come," Arthur replied, stopping in front of her and leading her to the side of the corridor, "He seemed a little… _concerned_ over the current company you keep."

"Oh?" Ginny tried to keep her tone casual, but an observant ear could probably have noticed the slightly higher pitch of her voice, "And which particular person is it who… _concerns _Ron so?"

Arthur ducked his head a little sheepishly and rubbed his neck.

"Harry," he admitted before hurrying to explain, "Now don't get me wrong, Ron likes Harry a lot, as do I. He is simply a little worried about the speed at which your relationship is progressing."

Inwardly, Ginny sighed with relief. Outwardly, she managed an outraged expression.

"That's hardly any of his business! Why do you care anyway?" She put on her best stereotypical-fifteen-year-old-girl impression.

"Ginny, darling, I simply wonder if you've put enough _thought _into this. You've only been dating a few months." Arthur looked remarkably uncomfortable.

"How dare you!" Ginny screamed, "Harry and I love each other unconditionally! Why are you trying to stand in our way?"

"I'm not sweetie. You have both mine and your mother's blessings for this. We just don't want you to get hurt."

"Then why are you here expressing Ron's… _concerns_?" Ginny questioned him acidly.

"Well, honestly they're my concerns as well," somehow Arthur managed to look even more embarrassed, "It's just… you're fifteen now and soon you may want to… _do _certain things."

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"What I'm trying to say, Ginny," her father continued, "Is that you've never really received the _talk._"

"The talk," Ginny looked at him with a deadpanned expression.

"Yes. See…" Arthur trailed off for a moment as he led her into an empty classroom, "There are a few things I need to explain to you."

Ginny hid a laugh at his discomfort.

"Okay, shoot," she leant back against a desk and waited patiently for him to begin.

"Well… it's sort of hard to explain really. You see, well, it starts when…"

"When two people love each other very much?" Ginny prompted.

"Yes! How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Ginny said with a small grin.

"Ah. Anyway, um… when two people love each other very much, sometimes they decide to… have a special hug."

"A special hug," Ginny feigned confusion, "What do you mean, Dad?"

Arthur frowned in concentration, searching his mind for another tried and tested way of conveying his subject.

"I mean that… women are like birds and men are like bees," he looked satisfied. "Does that make sense?"

"… No, Dad."

"Oh. Um… there are certain parts of a persons body which are… they're for… you know what" Arthur floundered desperately, his face becoming redder and redder as he spoke, "How about I get your mother to explain it to you some other time, okay?"

"No, it's alright Dad," Ginny smiled brightly, "I can just get Harry to show me!"

Arthur choked.

"Ah, no sweetie, I'll get your Mum to come and tell you okay?"

"Okay, Dad."

Arthur made towards the door looking slightly more relaxed. He paused briefly a few steps away from his destination and looked back at his young daughter. A paternal smile had spread its way across his face and he chuckled warmly.

"It's amazing really," he commented to her, "You're almost grown up now, but you still hold such innocence about you."

"I _think_ that was a compliment," Ginny said dryly, "So thanks, Dad. But don't worry so much, okay? No matter how grown up I get, I'll always be your little girl."

"I know that," Arthur told her, "I just wonder if you'll always remember that."

"Again, don't worry so much." Ginny smiled fondly.

Arthur looked at his daughter for a moment. He could have sworn that there was a slight sadness in her eyes. Possibly regret? It was gone a moment later however, replaced by that expression of perfect innocence she had been born with. He decided to forget about it.

Arthur nodded to her and turned to reach for the door just missing the childish and slightly evil smile spread across Ginny's face, vanishing again a millisecond later.

"Oh, Dad?" he twisted around again at her voice, "Where do babies come from?"

* * *

"Where've you been all this time?" Harry frowned as Ginny re-entered the common room.

"Torturing my Dad," she smiled wickedly at him and threw herself onto the couch.

"And you didn't invite me?" Harry pouted, "Ginny, you promised we'd do things as a _couple_ from now on."

"Aww, poor ickle Harry. Feeling left out?"

Harry glared at her.

"Have you been talking to Fred and George again?"

"No, I get this from you." Ginny informed him dryly.

"Well _that's_ sickening," Harry scrunched his nose up at the thought, "Next thing you know we'll be finishing each other's sentences."

"A tragic day for all."

"Indeed. We must do something," Harry slipped off the edge of the couch and knelt before Ginny, "Ginny, my sweet, sweet Ginny."

"Yes, Harry?" Sweet, sweet Ginny replied in a falsely breathless voice.

"I think we should spend some time apart."

"And see other people?"

"You already are," Harry reminded her.

"Oh, right. I forgot," Ginny sighed, "I suppose you're right. I guess it's a good thing I'm heading to Haven tonight then, huh?"

"A wonderful thing actually," Harry grinned at her, "I'll get to have a lot of extra privacy to go through the necessary mourning period. Not even Ron will dare disturb me!"

"Er… yes he will."

"Fine. Not even Ron whilst under Hermione's control will dare disturb me!" Harry cried, stabbing the air in triumph.

"Much better. Sort of."

"You really know how to belittle a guy don't you?"

"All women have this skill, Harry. Nothing cures a bad temper better than a little session of ego crushing."

"I think I may cry," Harry sniffed.

"Pussy."

"Shaddup."

* * *

"Dean, Dean!"

"What's up Hamish?" The older boy smiled at his younger brother and slowed his pace until the boy caught up with him.

Hamish beamed widely, unable to contain his own delight. Pausing briefly to catch his breath, he dragged Dean into an empty classroom. Once there he began to speak.

"I was talking with Patrick earlier and suddenly Draco Malfoy came up," Hamish started, "He went through the usual farce of hazing the new Hufflepuffs and whispered for me to meet him behind the statue of the old hag near the Astrology tower. Anyway, once I was there, he told me that I'm going to be in the next batch of kidnap victims!"

"What?" Dean gasped out, sliding backwards onto a chair, "Is he out of his mind? You're too young!"

"But Dean, that's unfair. Tilly went in the first kidnapping and she's a first year," Hamish pouted, "And then Delaney and Penelope were in the most recent batch of victims and Penelope's three months younger than me!"

"Yes, but that was then and this is now," Dean explained patronisingly.

"Really? I couldn't tell. I thought time had been standing still for the last few weeks," Hamish replied sarcastically.

"Hamish, I mean that now Dumbledore has his guard raised, not to mention the Ministry _and_ Voldemort are both on the lookout. If you were caught you'd be questioned, and you're too young to be able to resist that."

"Dean, _Ginny _is going to be going with us. Do you honestly think anyone could get past her?"

"Yes! She's still only a child."

"As are you and Harry and everyone _else_ in this whole conspiracy," Hamish snapped, "Look, I know you're worried, but Draco thinks my disappearance would help our cause and I'm going to do it. You can either sit there and argue with me or you can keep working on your way of getting us out of here. That is your _job_ isn't it?"

With that Hamish stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door after himself and leaving Dean stunned.

"When did he become the older sibling?" Dean finally muttered before making his way back to the Room of Requirement to put some extra elements into the escape plan.

* * *

The kidnapping victims of the fourth round, aside from Ginny, had all been personally selected by Draco for the effect they would have on assorted members of the magical community. Hamish, as a Muggleborn student, was another personal blow for Dumbledore. His disappearance would strain the already tenuous relationships Dumbledore had with Muggle leaders. Convincing them to allow Muggleborns to enrol in Hogwarts next year might be a little difficult after this.

Josainne Kadir, a Slytherin, was the daughter of an Egyptian businessman. He was on friendly terms with Dumbledore and supplied a lot of the more exotic ingredients needed by potions students at Hogwarts. If Harry's side could turn him they would have a very useful supply source. If they couldn't get him on their side at least Hogwarts might stop getting the absolute premium of everything.

Halina Buschenstiel was a Polish girl in her seventh year who was new to the group. With Draco's instructions, she had actually informed her family as to what was going to happen. Draco's reasoning behind this was that the family was quite poor and unconnected, having only immigrated ten years earlier. Her father was a tailor and the whole family worked for his business. They specialized specifically in making safety equipment such as flame retardant coats and acid resistant gloves. Understanding the dangers of what the Hufflepuff girl was getting into, they had agreed to supply such equipment to Haven for a minimal cost.

Ginny, of course, was going on to sort out politics. Whatever one has to say about them, politics can sure be interesting. Corrupt, petty and bigoted? Yes, but still interesting.

Dean, while deeply involved in the kidnapping process, was not responsible for who was chosen to go. If he didn't like it well then, it sucked to be him. His responsibility was getting them there safely. And that was exactly what he planned to do.

The kidnapping, Dean decided, would be delayed a little. Dumbledore was now used to the students disappearing between the end of classes and the beginning of curfew. This time, the students would be vanishing shortly after midnight and, in what Dean considered to be his greatest triumph yet, they would disappear from their beds.

It was pointed out to him by both Harry and Ginny that it had been far more impressive when he had floated four students up out of their chairs in the middle of a meal, but Dean was insistent. _This_ was to be his greatest triumph.

His reasoning was that while it might be perceived as an easy feat, it was made remarkably more difficult by the huge amount of wards Dumbledore placed in every dorm. Dumbledore could literally watch them all sleep.

Dean, however, was fairly good at charms. Well, _fairly_ was a bit of an understatement. It had taken him almost the whole week, but he'd finally gotten underneath Dumbledore's wards. A couple of apparitions and a befuddlement charm or too, and Dumbledore could see images of four missing students sleeping in their beds like drugged-up infants. In all reality; Dean's greatest triumph consisted of four people getting out of bed and walking them out the front door.

* * *

"They _what_?" The booming shout of Cornelius Fudge rang out from a room off the side of the Great Hall, startling the students preparing for breakfast.

Dumbledore's rushed and reassuring murmurs followed, and the pair's mumbled conversation continued, once again, inaudible to their audience. Harry paused briefly to pout at this before returning to his conversation with Ron and Hermione.

"You don't think she's been taken do you?" He whispered, his voice filled with an appropriate mix of terror and dread, "I mean, yesterday _was_ a week since the last kidnapping and three other people are missing too."

"Oh Harry," Hermione patronized as Ron turned slightly green, "Ginny is _fine_, I'm sure of it. Dumbledore takes really good care of all the children of Order members. There's no way anyone could have gotten a _Weasley_ away from Hogwarts. It would be impossible."

Across the table, Dean looked entirely too pleased with himself.

"But 'Mione, I'm scared for her. Where could she be if she hasn't been kidnapped?"

"Yeah, Hermione," Ron added angrily, "She's my baby sister and she's _missing_!"

"We _know_, Ron," Harry muttered under his breath. Out loud he said instead, "Maybe we should go ask Dumbledore what's going on?"

"Great idea, Harry," Ron perked up, but then his face fell once again, "I think he's busy with the minister right now though."

"We can talk to him after breakfast," Hermione assured the both of them in her best mothering tone, "He's always happy to make time for us."

"He wasn't last year," Harry muttered the reminder.

"That was different, Harry!" exclaimed Hermione in exasperation, "He thought Voldemort was in your head! And in case you've forgotten- he was!"

"You Know Who was in Harry's head?" Lavender gasped in shock, "He could have seen all of us."

"Harry is the big, strong, sexy saviour of the world, Lavender," Dean butted in smoothly, "If You Know Who was in his head, I'm sure Harry made certain he wouldn't find out anything."

"You're right Dean," Hermione hurriedly added her opinion, "Harry will protect us all, right Harry?" she looked at him pointedly.

"Er… yeah Lavender," Harry feigned awkwardness, "I know just what to do in situations like that."

"Hermione didn't mean to frighten you," Dean said soothingly, "Just go back to your breakfast."

Lavender blinked.

"So anyway, Parvati…" the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Ron stated the obvious as usual.

* * *

Dumbledore sat down at his desk with a sigh. Four more children missing! And one of them the child of Order members! This was going to be hard to explain. Plus, he _really_ wasn't looking forward to dealing with Molly Weasley's famously piercing screams. Dear Merlin that woman could be annoying.

The whole, unbelievable situation was frustrating on a new level this time. The Weasley girl had been the perfect way to control Harry. Sure, she herself was rather unruly, but it wouldn't have been long before her parents got her under control and then she would be the perfect spy in his life.

It had been nice to see the lad return to him though. Only minutes after he had sent Fudge off to one of the suites in the castle (the minister had insisted on staying for a few nights to see how Dumbledore was handling the crisis) Harry had timidly made his way into the antechamber where Dumbledore had originally taken Fudge. He, along with Ron and Hermione had begged him for information on Ginny Weasley's whereabouts.

All three had been devastated at the news. Hermione less than the other two, but it seemed she had been genuinely fond of the girl. Ronald had thrown a minor tantrum but had been fairly quiet for the most part.

Harry on the other hand made rather a lot of noise about the issue. He'd been a little angry but mostly at himself. The poor boy seemed to blame himself for his girlfriend's disappearance. If the girl was never found or was conveniently murdered, Dumbledore decided, he could make use of this guilt Harry held. A soldier hell-bent on revenge was far more likely to agree to go on dangerous missions than one who was thinking about life after war. Perhaps afterwards he could drive the lad to suicide. It would be a quick and easy way to get rid of him and the wizarding world would be so devastated; they'd fall right in his lap.

Indeed there were many uses for a grief stricken teenager. He would keep that idea in mind for later.

* * *

"Ah! Come in Professor… Snape isn't it?

"It is, Minister Fudge, but you may call me Severus."

"Well then have a seat, Severus. What is it I can do for you?"

"You've heard all about the disappearances no doubt and no doubt you can tell Dumbledore has not been entirely forthright with you."

"I can. The man is so elusive sometimes. I know we're on the same team but I can't help but feel threatened by him. Last year as I'm sure you know was a slight embarrassment for me and I know that, if given the choice, the country would love to see Dumbledore holding my position. In their eyes he's a far more wizened and reliable figure."

"Well now, Sir, we can't have that. I hope you don't mind how forward I am being but… I have a proposition for you."

"Oh?"

"You need someone to be your eyes and ears here. Someone who can give you insider details from _two_ factions of this war."

"What are you saying Severus? What can you offer me?"

"I'm saying I could get you that information. It would cost you nothing except a guarantee that I would be safe from persecution at the end of this war. No matter what happens."

"I think I could arrange that."

"Well then Minister Fudge, do we have a deal?"

"Indeed we do Professor."

* * *

End note:

Is the Severus Snape thing making sense to you all? Let me know if it isn't as I'd be more than happy to expand on it and explain a little. Thank-you all for sticking around even when it seemed like my hiatus was never going to end. The reviews were what forced me to continue (you people are really good at giving us poor authors terrible guilt trips) and I'm very glad I did. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter. See you next time!


End file.
